Steelworkers Endorse Trumka as AFL-CIO President

June 16, 2009 -- PITTSBURGH – The United Steelworkers (USW) International Executive Board has unanimously endorsed Richard Trumka as the next president of the AFL-CIO.

Trumka, the federation’s current secretary-treasurer, is looking to succeed retiring AFL-CIO President John Sweeney at its convention in Pittsburgh this September. Trumka was first elected AFL-CIO secretary-treasurer in 1995.

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“Not only does Richard have the experience and the intellectual capacity to do the job, he brings great heart and passion to the fight for issues that matter to America’s working families,” said USW International President Leo W. Gerard.

“We believe his life-long passion for helping workers, sparked by his own experiences as a third-generation coal miner, makes him the right person for the job.”

Steelworkers know Trumka for his willingness to support them and their issues on the picket lines across the country as well as in the halls of power in Washington, D.C.

At the USW’s Constitutional Convention last year, Trumka directly confronted the volatile issue of racism in the 2008 presidential campaign. His powerful speech was considered a turning point in President Barack Obama’s campaign and has attracted more than 530,000 hits on YouTube.com.

Earlier this year, Obama named Trumka to the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board, chaired by former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul A. Volcker.

At 19, Trumka followed his father into the coal mine near his home in Nemacolin, Pa. but continued his education, graduating with a law degree from Villanova University in 1974.

Trumka was a staff attorney with the United Mine Workers from 1974 to 1979. He was elected to the board of directors of UMWA District 4 in 1981, and UMWA President in 1982.

While president of the UMWA, Trumka led a successful nine-month strike against the Pittston Coal Co. over its refusal to pay into a health and retirement fund. Trumka encouraged non-violent civil disobedience and a sophisticated campaign against corporate Wall Street investors.

Trumka chairs the AFL-CIO Finance Committee. He led the creation of the AFL-CIO Capital Stewardship Program to promote the retirement security of working families whose union pension and benefit plans have more than $400 billion in assets and are a major force in global capital markets.

Under Trumka’s leadership, the program promotes corporate governance reform, investment manager accountability, pro-worker investment strategies, international pension fund cooperation and trustee education and support.

Source: AFL-CIO