William Pearson

William Pearson (1896 – 9 April 1956) was a Scottish trade unionist and communist activist.

Born in Armadale, West Lothian, Pearson's father was killed in an accident at a local coal-mine when he was only nine years old. Despite this, at the age of fourteen, he became a miner himself.

In 1934 Pearson was recognised by the 'miners welfare commission' for his services in establishing the first rehabilitation service for disabled miners in Great Britain.

Pearson was soon elected to the NUSM executive and in 1940 became President of the Lanarkshire Miners' County Union. In 1944, Pearson also became the mineworkers' representative on the council of the Scottish Trades Union Congress, and he served as its chairman in 1950.

Pearson was also active on the national and international stage. He was the Trades Union Congress's representative to the Trades and Labour Congress of Canada in 1948. The following year, he was elected to the executive of the National Union of Mineworkers, but resigned due to poor health. This poor health dogged him for the remainder of his life, although he held his trade union posts until his death in 1956.