Richard Trumka
| Richard Trumka | |
|---|---|
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| Born |
Richard Louis Trumka July 24, 1949 Nemacolin, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Miner; Labor leader; Attorney/Litigator |
| Known for |
Organized strikes against
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| Title |
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Organized strikes against
Richard Louis Trumka (born July 24, 1949) is an organized labor leader in the United States. He was elected President of the AFL-CIO on September 16, 2009, at the labor federation's convention in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He served as the Secretary-Treasurer of the AFL-CIO from 1995 to 2009, and prior to that was President of the United Mine Workers from 1982 to December 22, 1995. Trumka was named one of Esquire Magazine's Americans of the Year in 2011.
Trumka was born in Nemacolin, Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh, to an Italian American mother, Eola Elizabeth (née Bertugli), and a second-generation Polish American father, coal miner Frank Richard Trumka. He is a Roman Catholic. He went to work in the mines in 1968. He received a bachelor of science degree from Pennsylvania State University in 1971 and a law degree from Villanova University in 1974. He married Barbara Vidovich in 1982. They have one son.
From 1974 to 1979, Trumka was a staff attorney with the United Mine Workers at their headquarters in Washington, D.C. He was elected to the board of directors of UMWA District 4 in 1981 and became President of the United Mine Workers in 1982.
While President of the UMWA, Trumka led a successful nine-month strike against the Pittston Coal Company in 1989, which became a symbol of resistance against employer cutbacks and retrenchment for the entire labor movement. A major issue in the dispute was Pittston's refusal to pay into the industrywide health and retirement fund created in 1950. Trumka encouraged non-violent civil disobedience to confront the company and relied on a corporate campaign.
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