Austin Bruce Garretson (4 September 1856 – 27 February 1931) was an American labor leader who was head of the Order of Railway Conductors from 1906 to 1919.

He gained national prominence in 1916 when he averted a nationwide railroad strike in exchange for an eight-hour day with time-and-a-half overtime pay.

[2] In 1884 Garretson became a member of the Lone Star Division 53 of the Order of Railway Conductors, and became active in union work.

[2] In 1890 Garretson was one of the leaders of the progressive faction that transformed the Order of Railway Conductors from a fraternal and beneficiary association into one that protected its members and negotiated for better pay and conditions.

[4] Garretson found the job made heavy demands on his time, as locals that were unskilled at negotiation increasingly called on the union executives for assistance.

[13] In November 1915 Walsh announced that he was forming a private Committee on Industrial Relations (CIR) with the goal of bringing together "leaders of every school of economic belief, from the so-called most conservative to the so-called wildest radical" to sound "one harmonious note for justice to labor".

Garretson was again appointed, as were Lennon and O'Connell, but the new committee included a wider range of progressives and activists.

[14] In the late summer of 1916 Garretson played a leading role in negotiations in which railway workers won the right to an eight-hour day and time-and-a-half overtime pay with the passage of the Adamson Act.

[2] He was chairman of the committee of the four brotherhoods of engineers, firemen, brakemen and conductors that negotiated for the eight-hour day, handling the talks firmly but tactfully.