Trumka, Richard Louis

Trumka, Richard Louis,

1949–, U.S. labor leader, b. Nemacolin, Pa., grad. Pennsylvania State Univ. (B.S., 1971), Villanova Univ. (J.D., 1974). A third-generation miner, he worked as a United Mine WorkersUnited Mine Workers of America
(UMW), international labor union formed (1890) by the amalgamation of the National Progressive Union (organized 1888) and the mine locals under the Knights of Labor. It is an industrial union, including all workers in the coal industry.
..... Click the link for more information.
 (UMW) staff lawyer after graduating from law school then returned to the mines (1979–81) and rose through the UMW ranks to win the union presidency as a reformer in 1982. Regarded as combative and intelligent, he led a successful strike (Apr., 1989–Feb., 1990) against the Pittston Coal Group that was notable for its use of civil disobedience. In 1995 he was elected American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial OrganizationsAmerican Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations
(AFL-CIO), a federation of autonomous labor unions in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Panama, and U.S.
..... Click the link for more information.
 secretary-treasurer as part of John J. SweeneySweeney, John Joseph,
1934–, U.S. labor leader, b. New York City. An official of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) from 1960, he became president of the SEIU in 1980.
..... Click the link for more information.
's insurgent slate. Trumka succeeded Sweeney as AFL-CIO president in 2009.