Longtime AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka has died, Senate Majority Leader Schumer says
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, a deeply influential voice in Washington who rose from the coal mines of Pennsylvania to preside over one of the largest labor organizations in the world, died Thursday. He was 72.
Trumka oversaw a labor organization with more than 12.5 million members, according to the AFL-CIO’s website.“Richard Trumka dedicated his life to the labor movement and the right to organize,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement. “Richard’s leadership transcended a single movement, as he fought with principle and persistence to defend the dignity of every person.”
Tony Brnusak, a 66-year-old veteran coal miner in the western Pennsylvania coal region where Trumka was born and raised, served on the United Mine Workers of America International executive board when Trumka was first elected president of the union in 1982, becoming at 33 the youngest person to hold that post.
He met with then-President Trump but also forcefully criticized him, calling Trump a “fraud” who had deceived the working class.Trump shot back, criticizing Trumka as ineffectual. “No wonder unions are losing so much,” Trump tweeted. “His ability to talk to the president of the United States will be very hard to replace. It’s a long history, based on personal trust. It’s remarkable,” said Cohen, who had known Trumka since the early 1980s.
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