The nation’s labor movement is still mourning the sudden death of AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka just over three weeks ago.
New federation President Liz Shuler said the organization is “pushing forward” but also taking time to consider the achievements of Trumka, who, at just 72, died of a heart attack while on a camping trip.
“I will say that I miss him personally. It’s been a little over three weeks since his passing. I lost a working partner of 12 years. We worked side by side with one another,” Shuler said at a Christian Science Monitor roundtable discussion.
“We’re still grieving at the AFL-CIO family, but we are pushing forward, and Rich would want us to. And we shouldn’t stay still, right? So we’re taking it one step at a time,” she added.
Trumka, a burly former mine worker union member and boss who found ways to push his agenda even against tough foes, headed the 56-member federation for 12 years.
A page dedicated to him and his legacy on the AFL-CIO website includes dozens of stories and tributes from union members to presidents and friends.
Shuler has found support and success stepping into the presidency quickly in part because of the lessons learned from Trumka, she said.
“Rich was a mentor. He was a partner. And, in fact, we worked side by side together for 12 years, and I learned a lot,” she told reporters. One key lesson was learning to run the federation of unions rather than just one.
“I came out of the electrical workers union,” she said. “But I would say that the job of federating, as they say, is a very difficult job because you have 56 unions around a table who all have different perspectives and opinions and cultures, and the job really is to find, you know, find unity and figure out how we align and keep moving forward together.”
She added, “What we spent a lot of time together talking about is, you know, finding ways to bring those folks around the table and, as they say sometimes, herding butterflies. It’s not easy, right? And so that was something that I learned a lot as far as, you know, the ins and outs of how we bring unions together, how do you do that, how do you bring, what’s the secret sauce, right? It’s a lot of listening.”
Trumka was also friendly with the media and appeared at the long-running Christian Science Monitor breakfasts for 12 years, usually the week before Labor Day.
“I know this event has become a Labor Day tradition, and we intend to keep it so,” Shuler said after her introduction by Christian Science Monitor Washington Bureau Chief Linda Feldmann. “He has set a high bar for me, certainly.”
