Jul 24, 2009 3 min read

We were pleased when we recently learned that Greene County native Rich Trumka had formally announced his bid to become the next leader of the nation’s largest labor federation, the AFL-CIO. The third-generation coal miner from Nemacolin rose through the ranks of the United Mine Workers before becoming president in 1982, and he became secretary/treasurer of the AFL-CIO in 1995. Trumka is unopposed for the post and has already lined up enough support from member unions to put him over the top during the group’s September convention. If elected, he would replace retiring president John Sweeny, who oversaw a contentious 14 years at the helm.

Trumka, who went to work in the mines at age 19 and later became an attorney, has long been a soldier in the union movement. As head of the UMW, he led two major strikes that enhanced miners’ job security, pension and benefits.

Trumka also became something of a Web phenomenon during last year’s Democratic primary campaign, when his impassioned speech against racism in the 2008 presidential election drew over half a million hits on YouTube. Earlier this year, President Obama tapped Trumka to serve on the President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board.

But while it is great to see someone from our neck of the woods reach such heights, Trumka will face significant challenges if he does ascend to the top of the AFL-CIO. The federation faces a tough economic climate and drastically declining union membership.

Labor leaders are also desperately seeking to pressure Congress to pass legislation to change union organizing laws in an effort to revitalize the labor movement. Trumka and other union officials have been vigorously pushing a bill informally called the card check, which they claim would make it easier for workers to form unions. However, the bill has run into some problems, especially in regards to a provision that would do away with secret ballots for workers voting on whether to join a union or not. It appears that some type of compromise will be necessary, and it will be interesting to see how Trumka and his fellow union leaders deal with the situation.

Trumka is also tasked with repairing a significant rift in the massive organization, which saw serious defections four years ago when the Teamsters, SEIU and others left to form the rival Change to Win federation.

We’re pleased and impressed to see a native of a small town in Greene County on the precipice of such a prestigious and powerful post at the head of the organization’s 56 member unions representing about 11 million workers.

We’ve found Trumka to be articulate and intelligent, and we’re not surprised that he’s ascended to such a prestigious post. While the job won’t be easy, we think Trumka will be more than able to face the major challenges confronting the American labor movement. In fact, the AFL-CIO couldn’t have found someone better equipped to handle the problems that lie ahead than Trumka.