Paul Scharrenberg

Paul Scharrenberg (August 21, 1877 – October 27, 1969) was a German-American labor union leader. He served as Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the California Labor Federation from 1909 to 1936, legislative representative for the American Federation of Labor in Washington, D.C. from 1937 to 1943, and Director of the California Department of Industrial Relations from 1943 until his retirement in 1955.

When Tom Mooney and Warren K. Billings were convicted for the Preparedness Day bombing and sentenced to death, Scarrenberg and other labor leaders like Hugo Ernst and George G. Kidwell (who he later succeeded as director of Industrial Relations) lobbied successfully to save them from execution.

During his career he served on a number of boards and commissions, including the State Commission of Immigration and Housing, the San Francisco City Planning Commission, the State Board of Harbor Commissioners, and the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service.