An Unequaled Voice for Workers: The Working People Weekly List

Every week, we bring you a roundup of the top news and commentary about issues and events important to working families. Here’s the latest edition of the Working People Weekly List.

The Future of The Labor Movement After Richard Trumka: “NPR’s Don Gonyea speaks with author and former New York Times labor reporter, Steven Greenhouse, about the labor movement’s direction after the death of Richard Trumka, the former head of the AFL-CIO.”

I Was a Journalist from Coal Country. This Is the Rich Trumka I Knew: “It was quite a journey for Richard Trumka, who was born in the coal fields of Pennsylvania and made his way to the halls of power in our nation’s capital. The son of a  coal miner, Trumka grew up in Nemacolin, an isolated, rural hamlet in southwestern Pennsylvania with about 1,000 people. From those humble origins, Trumka became president of the United Mine Workers of America and later the AFL-CIO, a federation of 56 unions with 12.5 million members. Trumka died last week, and many labor and political leaders praised him as one of the best labor leaders in the nation’s history.”

In Final Speech, Trumka Said Labor’s Fighting for Democracy Under Siege: “In what turned out to be his final address to a union crowd, the late AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka declared organized labor is fighting not just for itself, but for ‘democracy, which has been under siege.’ ‘Give us back our power, and we’ll pull our country back from the brink,’ he declared. Trumka used those phrases in a six-minute August 4 Zoom address to convention delegates of Labor’s Council for Latin American Advancement, meeting in Las Vegas. He died the next morning of a heart attack at age 72. ‘We need this Congress to pass the PRO Act, to rewrite years of laws that are hurting working people, not helping them,’ Trumka said. The PRO (Protect the Right to Organize) Act, labor’s number one legislative priority, is the most pro-worker wide-ranging labor law reform bill since the original 1935 National Labor Relations Act.”

American Workers Just Lost Their Biggest Champion: “Richard Trumka, head of the AFL-CIO, recently died at 72 years old. He spent much of his life in unions, rising from mineworker to labor attorney to confidant for politicians like President Joe Biden and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who gave a tearful tribute to Trumka on the floor last week. Trumka was such an icon that, when crafting policy, officials like these had to confer with him; after all, Trumka had worked at AFL-CIO for 26 years and was a beloved leader who constantly pushed to expand the union tent and include all kinds of workers.”

City-County Building Lights Honor Richard Trumka: “Pittsburgh’s City-County Building was lit up in the colors of the AFL-CIO in honor of the late Richard Trumka.”

Labor Lost a Great One in Richard Trumka: “Richard Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO, died Thursday at 72. I knew him well. Throughout Rich’s 12 years as the head of organized labor in Washington, I worked two blocks away as head of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Our causes were often in fierce opposition, but Rich and I never were. I won’t get carried away and call us friends. But we were cut from the same cloth—raised by modest families, patriots to our core, committed to our Catholic faith, our families and our members. In a town full of fakes, I appreciated how Rich would say it straight to your face and expect the same from you. His words had meaning, all of them. He had a loyalty to his cause that bordered on zeal, as did I, as do many, yet it never dissolved into hatred or contempt for the other side.”

Rich Trumka Lived in Solidarity: “Solidarity is a virtue we neither discuss nor practice enough. We hear a lot about compassion and empathy, and certainly need more of both. But solidarity is a deeper commitment, rooted in equality and mutuality. Pope John Paul II saw solidarity not as a feeling of ‘shallow distress at the misfortunes of so many people’ but as ‘a firm and persevering determination to commit oneself to…the good of all and of each individual because we are all really responsible for all.’ I don’t think Richard Trumka, the descendant of Polish immigrants, would mind my quoting the Polish pontiff to explain why I will miss his voice. The president of the AFL-CIO, who died on Thursday at age 72, lived the idea of solidarity when he took the side of reformers in his own mineworkers union and when he stood up to racism.”

Richard Trumka, AFL-CIO President and ‘Unequaled Voice’ for Workers, Dies at 72: “Longtime AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka died from a reported heart attack Aug. 5. He was 72. A third-generation coal miner who was elected the youngest president of the United Mine Workers of America early in his career, Trumka had served as AFL-CIO president since his election in 2009. He was elected secretary-treasurer of the nation’s largest labor union in 1995. ‘He was always there,’ President Joe Biden said of Trumka, whom he called a close friend. ‘He was an American worker, always fighting for working people, protecting their wages, their safety, their pensions and their ability to build a middle-class life.’ AFL-CIO Communications Director Tim Schlittner touted Trumka’s ‘unparalleled leadership as the voice of America’s labor movement’ while offering his sentiments in a press release. ‘Today, the 56 unions and 12.5 million members of the AFL-CIO mourn the passing of our fearless leader and commit to honoring his legacy with action,’ Schlittner added.”

Biden Honors ‘Close Friend’ Richard Trumka After Hearing of His Passing: “President Biden began remarks by remembering his close friend AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka.”

Richard Trumka, Head of the AFL-CIO, Dies at 72: “AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka, one of the country’s most powerful labor leaders and an influential voice in many Washington debates, died unexpectedly at 72, according to the federation. Trumka died on a camping trip with his family after suffering a heart attack, President Biden told reporters, saying Trumka was a close friend of his. A third-generation coal miner who rose to power through the United Mine Workers, Trumka had become one of the most powerful labor leaders in the country and a key ally of Democrats in Washington, having worked in some capacity with every Democratic White House the last 30 years.”

Richard Trumka, 1949–2021: “In one of his early moves as the new president of the United Mine Workers of America, Richard Trumka established a solidarity program with Black mine workers in South Africa. It was the mid-1980s. The apartheid regime was tightening its brutal grip on South Africa, and then-President Ronald Reagan was refusing to align the United States with the global movement to put economic pressure on the racist regime. As the thirtysomething leader of a union that was fighting plenty of its own battles at home, Trumka responded to the call from the National Union of Mineworkers in South Africa for a boycott of Royal Dutch Shell, a multinational oil conglomerate that had invested heavily in mining and other South African industries.”

‘Relentless Champion of Workers’: Richard Trumka, AFL-CIO Chief and Pittsburgh-Area Native, Dies: “Richard Trumka, the gruff union leader who rose from a Greene County coal patch to the highest echelon of the U.S. labor movement, died suddenly Thursday after a heart attack at age 72. Mr. Trumka was born in Nemacolin, Pennsylvania., led the United Mine Workers of America and spent the last nearly 12 years as president of the AFL-CIO, an organization composed of 56 unions representing more than 12 million workers across the country.”

Longtime AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka Dies: ‘He’s Always Stood Up for Labor’: “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. News of his death was announced by President Biden and Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and confirmed by the labor group. Trumka had been AFL-CIO president since 2009 after serving as the organization’s secretary-treasurer for 14 years.”

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka Has Died at 72: “Longtime AFL-CIO Union President Richard Trumka has died at the age of 72. He was a close friend of President Biden and advocate for the labor movement in politics.”

“We Will Not Accept Crumbs”: A Last Conversation with Richard Trumka: “It took the wind out of me when I heard that Richard Trumka, president of the A.F.L.-C.I.O. federation of unions, had passed away. Just a few months ago, we had two different conversations—one an interview by me of him, the other a public conversation. He was sprightly and curious and full of the passion that has fueled him through decades of a bruising fight for working people. I know many of you join me in sending love and condolences not only to his family and friends, but to so many of the people around the world who called him their champion. In remembering him, I thought I’d share an excerpt of an unpublished transcript of that interview we did earlier this year, capturing his reflections on the new administration and the new political moment we found ourselves in.”

Longtime AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka Dies at 72: “Richard Trumka, the longtime president of the AFL-CIO and Democratic ally, died unexpectedly on Thursday, according to a union spokesperson. Trumka, 72, died while celebrating his grandson’s birthday, according to an email sent by his staff to labor unions. ‘He was more than the head of the AFL-CIO, he was a good close personal friend,’ President Joe Biden said Thursday at the White House before a meeting with Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander groups. ‘At least he was with people who adored him.’ Trumka was elected AFL-CIO secretary-treasurer in 1995 and held that post until 2009, when he was elected president, according to the 12.5 million member labor union federation. He was elected the youngest president of the United Mine Workers of America at age 33 in 1982. ‘The labor movement, the AFL-CIO and the nation lost a legend today,’ AFL-CIO communications director Tim Schlittner said in a statement. ‘Rich Trumka devoted his life to working people, from his early days as president of the United Mine Workers of America to his unparalleled leadership as the voice of America’s labor movement.'”

Longtime AFL-CIO Labor Union President Richard Trumka Dies at 72: “Richard Trumka, the powerful president of the AFL-CIO labor union, has died at age 72, Democratic leaders said Thursday. News of his death was announced by President Joe Biden and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. Trumka had been AFL-CIO president since 2009, after serving as the organization’s secretary-treasurer for 14 years. ‘The working people of America have lost a fierce warrior at a time when we needed him most,’ Schumer said from the Senate floor.”

Richard Trumka, President of AFL-CIO, Dies at 72: “Richard Trumka, the longtime president of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), has passed away at the age of 72.”

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka Passes Away at 72: “Richard Trumka, the powerful president of the AFL-CIO labor union, has died, Democratic leaders said Thursday. News of his death was announced by President Joe Biden and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. Trumka had been AFL-CIO president since 2009, after serving as the organization’s secretary-treasurer for 14 years. ‘The working people of America have lost a fierce warrior at a time when we needed him most,’ Schumer said from the Senate floor. Biden called Trumka ‘a close friend’ who was ‘more than the head of AFL-CIO.’ He apologized for showing up late to a meeting with Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander civil rights leaders, saying he had just learned Trumka had died. Further details of Trumka’s death were not immediately available. The AFL-CIO did not immediately return messages seeking comment. Trumka oversaw a union with more than 12.5 million members, according to the AFL-CIO’s website.”

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka Dies At 72: “Labor leader Richard Trumka died suddenly on Thursday. He’s remembered by colleagues and friends as a tireless champion of workers’ rights. President Biden called Trumka a very close friend.”