AFL-CIO elects Richard Trumka as new president

Richard Trumka was elected the next president of the largest labor federation in the United States, the AFL-CIO, on September 16, 2009. Trumpka was the Secretary-Treasurer of the AFL-CIO for 14 years under the leadership of former president John J. Sweeney before being elected head of the 11.5 million member union. 

Trumka, the son, grandson, and nephew of Pennsylvania coal miners, who was a coal miner himself, worked as a lawyer for the United Mine Workers for five years before being elected president of the UMW in 1982. As president, he took a leading role in the boycott of Shell Oil and led a successful nine-month strike against Pittston Company for a better pension and better health care.

At the 26th Annual AFL-CIO convention, where Trumka was officially elected president, he spoke to the membership about the future of the labor movement in the United States. "We need a unionism that makes sense to the next generation. The labor movement can't ask the next generation of workers to change how they earn their living to fit our model of trade unionism. We have to change our approach to organizing and representation to better meet their needs."

He spoke of the thousands of green jobs being created as the economy moves towards renewable energy, pledging to "debunk the myth that we have to make a choice between good jobs and a clean environment." In the coming years, he said, the labor movement and the environmental movement must build an alliance in order to "confront corporate power wherever it rears its head."

In today's political and economic climate, Trumka plans to reach out to struggling young workers, build solidarity among all working-class Americans, and punish those politicians that do not follow through on their promises to the labor movement. Supporters, detractors, and commentators all seem to agree that Trumka's leadership style will be considerably more forceful than that of the outgoing president, John J. Sweeney.

For the Washington Post article, click here.