Richard Trumka, boss of the AFL-CIO trade union federation, dies at 72

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka died on Thursday at the age of 72.

Trumka had been president of the 12.5 million member union federation since 2009.

President Joe Biden called Trumka a close friend after learning of the union leader’s death.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, held back tears as he spoke in the Senate about Trumka.

“I rise today to speak with sad and horrific news regarding the passing of a great friend Rich Trumpka who left us this morning,” Schumer said, before pausing to pull himself together.

“American workers lost a fierce warrior at a time when we needed him most.”

Trumka grew up in Nemacolin, Pennsylvania, and as a college and law school student he worked in a coal miner just like his father and grandfather did.

At 33, he ran as a Reform candidate for president of the United Mine Workers of America and was elected the youngest leader in history in 1982.

Pennsylvania Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman said Trumka’s death was “truly heartbreaking.”

“We have lost a larger than life figure who has spent a career fighting for and defending the Union Way of Life,” Fetterman, a Democrat, wrote in a tweet.

“It’s up to the rest of us to take over and never stop fighting. #UnionStrong.”

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy has ordered that state’s flags to fly at half mast to mark Trumka’s death.

“The working families of America and New Jersey have lost one of their most loyal and devoted allies,” Murphy said in a statement. “Organized labor has lost one of its most powerful voices.”

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