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Powerful U.S. Labor Leader Richard Trumka Dies

By Benjamin Swasey

Published August 5, 2021 at 5:55 PM EDT

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka is seen in 2019. The powerful labor leader has died. [Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images] — AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka is seen in 2019. The powerful labor leader has died.

Updated August 5, 2021 at 12:52 PM ET

Richard Trumka, the leader of the powerful AFL-CIO union and a close ally of Democratic Party officials, has died. He was 72.

"The labor movement, the AFL-CIO and the nation lost a legend today," the organization said in announcing his passing. "Rich Trumka devoted his life to working people, from his early days as president of the United Mine Workers of America to his unparalleled leadership as the voice of America's labor movement."

Liz Shuler, the secretary-treasurer of the 12.5-million-member organization, wrote on Twitter that she had also lost "a dear friend."

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer also announced Trumka's passing on the Senate floor Thursday. "We lost a fierce warrior," Schumer said.

Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said in a statement that Trumka was "a fierce advocate for working people and a truly decent man."

Trumka had led the AFL-CIO since 2009. He was secretary-treasurer of the organization for more than a decade before that.

In 1982, at age 33, Trumka, who came from a coal mining family in Pennsylvania, was elected the youngest president of the United Mine Workers of America, according to the AFL-CIO.