Tom Matthews (1866 – 10 March 1915) was an English-born trade unionist, active in South Africa and the United States.
He was elected as president of the Butte district of the Western Miners' Association, and was arrested for his role in the Great Idaho Strike.
[1][2] Matthew returned to Cornwall, and studied at the Camborne School of Mines before, in 1897, emigrating to the Witwatersrand in South Africa.
In 1907, he was elected as vice president of the Transvaal Miners' Association, and played a leading role in that year's strike.
While the union had previously had a frequent leadership turnover, Matthews remained in post until his death from phthisis.