Richard Trumka

AFL-CIO President

Richard Trumka is President of the AFL-CIO. He was elected to that position Sept. 16, 2009, following 15 years of service as the AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer. Hailing from a coal-mining family in Pennsylvania, Trumka was a three-term International President of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) before his election to the AFL-CIO leadership.

His experience in the coal mines, where his father and grandfather had also worked, helped form his firm commitment to improving the lives of working people. Trumka received a Bachelor of Science degree from the Penn State University in 1971 and a law degree from the University of Villanova in 1974. He used his education to help others, often working pro bono.

Trumka’s ascendancy into UMWA leadership led to much-needed reform that built solidarity within the organization. His energetic activism, innovative approach to problem-solving and reform, and his formidable record of taking on reckless corporations and social issues, was noted by the AFL-CIO leadership, and ultimately led to his rise to organized labor’s top leadership position.