Hayes (May 4, 1882 – June 10, 1948) was an American miner and president of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) from 1917 to 1919.
A Democrat, he also served as Lieutenant Governor of Colorado in 1937–39.He was born in the coal mining town of What Cheer, Iowa, in 1882, but moved with his family as a boy to Illinois.
At the age of 13, he began working in the coal mines.