John Brophy (1883–1963) was an important figure in the United Mine Workers of America (UWMA) in the 1920s and the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) in the 1930s and 1940s.

[3] In September 1927, with an American workers' delegation headed by James H. Maurer as its chairman, Brophy visited Soviet Union and exchanged opinions with its leader, Joseph Stalin.

[4] Brophy was outside the labor movement for the next few years until 1933, when Lewis brought him back to work for the UMWA as it regained its membership in the early days of the New Deal.

[5] Lewis' successor as CIO President, Philip Murray, named Brophy the Director of Industrial Union Councils (IUC).

He was instrumental in setting up IUCS in cities across the country, viewing them as the "community organizations of the CIO" that "can rally not only the support of all unions in the community, but they can also play a leading part in strengthening progressive sentiment in other unions and outside the organized labor movement.” Brophy argued that most people shared the goals of the CIO, and asserted that what they lacked was “the leadership that organized labor alone can give…"[6] His position as Director of IUCs proved to be an important one in the expulsion of CP-led unions from the CIO following World War II.