Washington Post: Richard Trumka, head of the AFL-CIO, dies at 72.
From Bill Londrigan, Kentucky State AFL-CIO president: It is my sad duty to inform you of the passing of AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka who died suddenly today. President Trumka was a great friend and supporter of the Kentucky labor movement and visited Kentucky on many occasions to support our work. He marched on several occasions with us in Frankfort and helped guide our movement along our journey for justice for working families. He was a friend of mine and all of Kentucky’s workers and a great trade unionist who made tremendous contributions to the union movement and fought for the rights of all workers to fair wages, benefits and a decent standard of living. President Trumka reinvigorated the AFL-CIO and worked tirelessly to improve diversity and to elect candidates that support unions and workers. On behalf of the members and affiliates of the Kentucky State AFL-CIO we extend our deepest condolences to the family of President Trumka, the officers and affiliates of the AFL-CIO and the entire labor movement. In Solidarity, Bill.
He was one of the most powerful labor leaders in the country and a key ally of Democrats in Washington.
By ELI ROSENBERG
AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka, one of the country’s most powerful labor leaders and an influential voice in many Washington debates, has died at 72, according to a source at the union federation.