NewsHour Profiles AFL-CIO President Trumka

October 29, 2009

The NewsHour on PBS dedicated a segment of their Tuesday broadcast to the new leader of the American labor movement with a profile of AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka. The story highlighted Trumka’s start as a coal miner in Pennsylvania, his graduation from Villanova Law School, his rise to president of the Mine Workers and his key role in the tough battle against Pittston Coal Co. Included in the segment were clips from throughout Trumka’s career, including his emotional acceptance speech at the AFL-CIO convention in September.

As NewsHour pointed out, Trumka made his name “as a bulldog against corporate overreach” while he was AFL-CIO secretary-treasurer. The new AFL-CIO president made it clear he’s not about to let up now:

“I’ll stop demonizing big business just as soon as they put their country before their profits and they put their workers before their greed.”

Watch the full segment here: