John Vernon Riffe (March 15, 1904 – January 7, 1958) was an American labor unionist.
Born in Jenkins, Kentucky, Riffe worked at a local coal mine from the age of 14, initially as a trapper, and then as a mule driver.
He joined the United Mine Workers of America, and was elected as president of his local union when only 16 years old.
[1] In 1936, Riffe began working for the Steel Workers Organizing Committee (SWOC), and he was fired upon by police during the 1937 Memorial Day massacre.
In 1953, he was appointed as executive vice-president of the CIO, but he achieved little due to illness, and controversially devoted part of his time to the Moral Re-Armament movement.