The Library of Congress Professional Guild, AFSCME Local 2910, joins with the American labor movement to mourn the passing and honor the rich legacy of Richard Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO from 2009 to 2021, and labor legend. Rising through the ranks of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) to head the United States’ largest labor federation of 12.5 million members, Brother Trumka fought tirelessly for the rights of working people while never losing sight of his roots.
When interviewed in 1986, then-UMWA President Trumka drew upon the contrasts between management and labor to speak to the centrality of unions for their members:
We are not like them, a piece of paper and a balance sheet. The union—the United Mine Workers—exists in the hearts and minds of its members and their families. And all the money in the world will never eradicate that from our hearts and our minds and there will always be a United Mine Workers because there will always be a need for us.
We applaud his insights, that ring as true today as ever.
