Richard Trumka

Richard Trumka

Richard Trumka is a leader in the American labor movement. He currently serves as the Secretary-Treasurer of the AFL-CIO, a post to which he was elected in 1995. He previously was president of the United Mine Workers from 1982 to December 22, 1995.

Trumka was born in Nemacolin, Pennsylvania, a third-generation coal miner who went to work in the mines at age 19. He attended Pennsylvania State University and received his law degree from Villanova University's law school. [Jim McKay, "From Mines to Summit of Unionism," "Pittsburgh Post-Gazette," October 23, 1995.]

While president of the UMWA, Mr. Trumka led the successful nine-month strike against the Pittston Coal Company. It became a rallying symbol for the entire labor movement. [Frank Swoboda, "Coal Miner Strike Was Symbol for Labor Movement," "Washington Post," January 2, 1990.] A major issue in the dispute was Pittston's refusal to pay into the industrywide health and retirement fund created in 1950. Mr. Trumka encouraged non-violent civil disobedience to confront the company in the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and relied on a sophisticated corporate campaign involving Wall Street investors.

Besides his fighting aggressively against employers on behalf of his members, then-President Trumka established an office that raised U.S. mineworker solidarity with the mineworkers of South Africa while they were fighting racial apartheid. [ http://www.anc.org.za/show.php?doc=ancdocs/history/aam/conference/shill.html] He further served as the U.S. Shell boycott chairman, which challenged the multinational Royal Dutch/Shell Group for its continued business dealings in South Africa.

Upon being elevated to the AFL-CIO, Secretary-Treasurer Trumka has focused on creating investment programs for the pension and benefits funds of the labor movement, fighting Wall Street greed, and challenging politicians to create an equitable economy for working people.

On July 1, 2008 Mr. Trumka delivered a passionate speech blasting racism in the 2008 election, which was called one of the most important speeches of the election to date. [John Nichols, "AFL's Trumka: Labor must battle racism to elect Obama" "The Capital Times," Madison, WI, July 3, 2008. [http://www.madison.com/tct/opinion/294460] ] [ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QIGJTHdH50 YouTube video] ]

Notes

External links

* [http://www.aflcio.org AFL-CIO]
* [http://www.umwa.org United Mine Workers of America]
* [http://www.uscc.gov/photogallery/pho04_02_05.htm Photo Gallery]


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