Richard Trumka
Richard Trumka | |
---|---|
Born | Richard Louis Trumka July 24, 1949 Nemacolin, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
Died | August 5, 2021 | (aged 72)
Education | |
Occupation | Organized labor leader |
Spouse |
Barbara Vidovich (m. 1982) |
Children | 1 (Richard Trumka Jr.) |
Awards | Presidential Medal of Freedom (2022) |
Richard Louis Trumka (July 24, 1949 – August 5, 2021) was an American attorney and
Early life and education
Trumka was born on July 24, 1949, in
Career
Early career
From 1974 to 1979, Trumka was a staff attorney with the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) at their headquarters in Washington, D.C.[4] He was elected as the International Executive Board Member of UMWA from District 4 in 1981 and became president of the UMWA in 1982.[4]
Trumka's election against incumbent president Sam Church were some 3000 women miners who were hired after successful 1978 discrimination complaint brought by the Department of Labor Office of Federal Contract Compliance Program and the Coal Employment Project, a women’s advocacy organization. Named were 153 companies. Church had responded with an off-color joke when pressed by the women for the addition to the contract for affirmative action and improved sickness and accident coverage.[7][8]
Under Trumka's tenure support for women miners changed substantially. The union officially endorsed the CEP Annual Conference, and Trumka was the keynote speaker in 1983. Trumka approved excused absences for women to attend CEP conferences and sent letters to local unions urging them to send women to the conferences.[7][8]
While President of the UMWA, Trumka led a successful nine-month
The United Mine Workers conducted a nationwide strike against
Besides his domestic labor activities, Trumka established an office that raised U.S. mineworker solidarity with the miners in South Africa while they were fighting
AFL–CIO secretary-treasurer
As secretary-treasurer of the
Trumka's tenure as secretary-treasurer was not without controversy. In 1996,
Although the AFL–CIO had a policy (enacted in the wake of several Teamsters' scandals in the late 1950s) appearing to require anyone who asserted their Fifth Amendment rights to be removed from office, AFL–CIO President
On July 1, 2008, Trumka delivered a speech denouncing racism in the 2008 presidential election.[5][35] An ad of July 1, 2009, a video with an excerpt of the speech, attracted more than 535,000 hits on YouTube.[5] Trumka's video was called "surely the first YouTube moment in the history" of the labor movement by ProPublica journalist Alec MacGillis.[36]
AFL–CIO president
Trumka was elected president of the AFL–CIO after the retirement of John Sweeney in 2009[2] and president of the Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD in May 2010.[37] Trumka was named one of Esquire magazine's Americans of the Year in 2011.[38]
In March 2013, Trumka confirmed that organized labor would make an effort to work more closely with groups trying to aid immigrant workers, as the national debate on minimum wage and fair employment in the restaurant industry heated up.[39]
On August 15, 2017, a few days after the Unite the Right rally and then U.S. President Donald Trump's broadly criticized statements, Trumka quit the president's "manufacturing council" and published a statement, which included the following:
We cannot sit in a council for a President who tolerates bigotry and domestic terrorism. [...] President Trump's remarks today repudiate his forced remarks yesterday about the KKK and neo-Nazis, [...] We must resign on behalf of America's working people, who reject all notions of legitimacy of these bigoted groups.[40]
On February 4, 2018, Trumka was announced to be the first recipient of the World Peace Prize for Labor Leadership because he has dedicated his life to the cause of labor and labor rights, seeking equality, and defending the rights of working men and women.[41]
On July 1, 2022, the White House announced that Trumka would be posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.[42]
Personal life and death
Trumka married Barbara (
Trumka died from a
References
- ^ Greenhouse, Steven (September 16, 2009). "Promising a New Day, Again". The New York Times. p. B1. Archived from the original on July 29, 2012. Retrieved July 28, 2012.
- ^ a b Greenhouse, Steven (September 13, 2009). "Labor Leader Is Stepping Down Both Proud and Frustrated". The New York Times. p. A32. Archived from the original on July 29, 2012. Retrieved July 28, 2012.
- ^ "Richard Trumka Awarded 2003 Sons of Italy Foundation Humanitarian Award".
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8379-7011-0
- ^ a b c d Greenhouse, Steven (July 3, 2009). "Combative Union Leader Steps From the Shadows". The New York Times. p. B1. Archived from the original on April 29, 2018. Retrieved July 28, 2012.
- ^ Jim McKay, "From Mines to Summit of Unionism," Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, October 23, 1995.
- ^ OCLC 33333565.
- ^ JSTOR 41057390.
- ^ Frank Swoboda, "Coal Miner Strike Was Symbol for Labor Movement," Washington Post, January 2, 1990.
- ^ Swoboda, Frank (January 2, 1990). "AGREEMENT REACHED IN COAL STRIKE". Washington Post. Retrieved August 7, 2021.
At the heart of the dispute was the industry-wide health and retirement fund created in 1950 by John L. Lewis, the late UMW president. ... Pittston, which pulled out of the coal operators association in the last round of industry negotiations, has refused to pay into any of the funds since February 1988, leaving other companies in the association to pay for former Pittston employees covered by the fund.
- ^ "FACTBOX-Former miner Trumka heads for AFL-CIO presidency". Reuters. September 11, 2009. Retrieved August 7, 2021.
He led a successful 1989 strike against the Pittston Coal Co., which refused to contribute to a health and retirement fund. Trumka urged a broad range of strike actions including nonviolent civil disobedience that resulted in the arrest of thousands of strikers.
- ^ a b "Eugene Register-Guard - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com.
- ^ McClain, John D. "Violence Possible, UMW Chief Says." Virginian-Pilot. September 3, 1993.
- ^ McClain, John D. "Coal Miners' President Says Violence Possible." Eugene Register-Guard. September 3, 1993. Ellipsis in original.
- ^ Hill, Sylvia. "Presentation: The Free South African Movement." African National Congress. October 10-13, 2004. Archived October 5, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Isikoff, Michael (November 29, 1986). "Boycott in U.S., Europe Vexes Royal Dutch Shell". Washington Post. Retrieved August 5, 2021.
- ^ "Letelier-Moffitt Human Rights Awards". Institute for Policy Studies. Retrieved August 5, 2021.
- ^ Stephen F. Diamond. "Commentary: Trumka may give AFL-CIO the vitality it sorely needs." McClatchy-Tribune News Service. October 2, 2009. Archived October 5, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "China Currency Coalition Applauds Senator Obama's Support of S. 796, The Fair Currency Act of 2007." Press release. China Currency Commission. May 2, 2008.
- ^ a b Greenhouse, Steven (September 21, 1997). "Behind Turmoil For Teamsters, Rush for Cash". The New York Times.
- ^ a b Greenhouse, Steven. "An Overseer Bars Teamster Leader From Re-Election." New York Times. November 18, 1997.
- ^ Greenhouse, Steven (September 19, 1997). "3 Teamster Aides Make Guilty Pleas and Hint at Plot". The New York Times.
- ^ a b Greenhouse, Steven and Van Natta, Don, Jr. "Proposed Deal With Democrats Draws Focus of Investigators in Teamsters Election." New York Times. September 18, 1997.
- ^ Labaton, Stephen (August 23, 1997). "Federal Report Describes Teamster Money Scheme". The New York Times.
- ^ Greenhouse, Steven (August 23, 1997). "Teamster Voting That Chose Carey Declared Invalid". The New York Times.
- ^ Greenhouse, Steven (January 26, 2001). "Ex-President of Teamsters Is Charged With Lying". The New York Times.
- ^ Ramirez, Compiled by Anthony (February 2, 2001). "Metro Briefing". The New York Times.
- ^ Greenhouse, Steven (October 13, 2001). "Former Teamsters President Is Cleared of Lying Charges". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 9, 2012. Retrieved July 28, 2012.
- ^ Rosenkrantz, Holly. "Trumka Has Detractors, Not Opponents, in AFL-CIO Bid." Bloomberg Business News. June 8, 2009. Accessed March 23, 2011.
- ^ a b c Greenhouse, Steven. "A.F.L.-C.I.O. Chief Tells Panel of Faith in Deputy." New York Times. May 1, 1998.
- ^ "Teamster Aide's Conviction May Lead to Fraud." Detroit News. November 21, 1999.
- ^ a b Sammon, Bill. "House Subcommittee Cancels AFL-CIO Officials' Testimony." Washington Times. April 30, 1998.
- ^ Sweeney's testimony was paraphrased by the Associated Press to the same effect. See: Galvin, Kevin. "AFL-CIO Head Defends Aide." Associated Press. April 30, 1998.
- ^ Galvin, Kevin. "Labor Sets 1998 Agenda." Associated Press. January 31, 1998.
- ^ "John Nichols, "AFL's Trumka: Labor Must Battle Racism to Elect Obama," Capital Times, July 3, 2008".
- ^ Alec MacGillis, "No Getting Around This Guy AFL-CIO's Richard Trumka Aims to Hold That Line on Health Care," Washington Post, September 7, 2009.
- ^ Education International. Annual Report 2010. March 2011. Accessed April 24, 2012.
- ^ Richardson, John. H. (November 21, 2011). "Americans of the Year 2011: Richard Trumka, American". Esquire. Esquire.com. p. 2. Archived from the original on August 10, 2012. Retrieved July 28, 2012.
- ^ Greenhouse, Steven (January 16, 2014). "Advocates for Workers Raise the Ire of Business". The New York Times.
- ^ washingtonpost.com August 15, 2017: Top labor leader resigns from Trump's jobs council after Trump blames 'both sides' for Charlottesville violence
- ^ World Peace Prize for Labor Leadership Irish National Caucus, INC. February 5, 2018
- ^ "President Biden Announces Recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom". whitehouse.gov. White House. July 1, 2022. Retrieved July 1, 2022.
- ^ "U.M.W. Chief Married; Threat Upsets Schedule." Associated Press. November 28, 1982.
- ^ Pattison, Mark (March 30, 2010). "Catholic upbringing gave AFL-CIO leader sense of fairness, justice". Catholic News Service. Catholicnews.com. Archived from the original on March 30, 2012. Retrieved July 28, 2012.
- ^ Rainey, Rebecca (August 5, 2021). "AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka dead at 72, sources say". POLITICO. Retrieved August 5, 2021.
- ^ Mangan, Leslie; Josephs, Dan (August 5, 2021). "Richard Trumka, head of AFL-CIO union federation, dies at 72". CNBC. Retrieved August 5, 2021.
External links
- Moyers & Company: "Richard Trumka: on Labor Unions"
- Appearances on C-SPAN