About Thomas McKenna
Lived 1876 – 1939 (aged 63). Thomas McKenna was a trade unionist.
Thomas McKenna (4 April 1876 – 13 October 1939) was a British trade unionist.
McKenna was born in Felling, Tyne and Wear, to an Irish father. By 1885, McKenna was employed at an ironworks in Stockton-on-Tees, and he joined the National Association of Blastfurnacemen in 1889, becoming an official of the renamed National Federation of Blastfurnacemen around 1899. He was elected as secretary of the Cleveland and Durham Blastfurnacemen and Cokemen's Association in 1912, then in 1914, he was elected as the federation's president,
Under McKenna's leadership, the federation became a more centralised union, the National Union of Blastfurnacemen, Ore Miners, Coke Workers and Kindred Trades. He also took part in the International Metalworkers' Federation, becoming secretary of its British section in 1930.
In 1939, McKenna was appointed to the iron and steel control committee of the Ministry of Supply, but he died later in the year.
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Important facts
Contemporaries
People whose lives overlapped Thomas McKenna's
Frequently asked questions
Who was Thomas McKenna?
1876-1939 British trade unionist
When was Thomas McKenna born?
Thomas McKenna was born on 4 April 1876.
When did Thomas McKenna die?
Thomas McKenna died on 13 October 1939.
What was Thomas McKenna's occupation?
Thomas McKenna was a trade unionist.
Sources & further reading
· DBpedia: Thomas McKenna (trade unionist)
Cite this page
APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Thomas McKenna. https://biography.guide/thomas-mckenna/
MLA: "Thomas McKenna." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/thomas-mckenna/.
Chicago: "Thomas McKenna." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/thomas-mckenna/.
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