Cecil Roberts

UMWA International President

Cecil Roberts Jr. is the International President of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA). A sixth-generation Mine Worker, Roberts grew up in a West Virginia mining community. He served in Vietnam and attended college before returning to his coal mining roots.

A fiery orator and highly respected labor leader, Roberts worked for six years in a West Virginia coal mine and became a local union officer and later president of UMWA District 17. In 1982, he was elected as an International Vice President, running on a slate headed by Richard Trumka and John Banovic, who were elected International President and International Secretary-Treasurer, respectively.

In 1995, Roberts assumed the position of president upon Trumka’s resignation and was re-elected by acclamation by the members to four consecutive terms, a first in the history of the Mine Workers.