Too serious to miss - AFL-CIO call to cross the color line

"When we have the good courage, the good sense, the trade union values to cross the color line and stand together, no one, no one has ever been able to keep us down." Ricard Trumka

Richard Trumka, Secretary-Treasurer of the AFL-CIO and former president of the United Mine Workers, is a third-generation coal miner who went to work in the mines at age 19. He attended Pennsylvania State University and received his law degree from Villanova University's law school.

According to Wikipedia; while president of the UMWA, Trumka led the successful nine-month strike against the Pittston Coal Company that became a rallying symbol for the entire labor movement. Trumka encouraged non-violent civil disobedience to confront the company in the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and relied on a sophisticated corporate campaign involving Wall Street investors.

Trumka also worked to raise U.S. mineworker solidarity with the mineworkers of South Africa while they were fighting racial apartheid and served as the U.S. Shell boycott chairman, which challenged the multinational Royal Dutch/Shell Group for its continued business dealings in South Africa.

In his AFL-CIO position, Trumka has focused on creating investment programs for labor pension and benefits funds, fighting Wall Street greed, and challenging politicians to create an equitable economy for working people.