Richard Trumka, leader of UMWA in 1989’s Pittston Coal strike, dead at 72
The former leader of the United Mine Workers of America Richard Trumka has died at the age of 72.
Trumka was 33 when he was selected as the youngest president of the UMWA in 1982. Seven years later, he would be one of the figureheads in a bitter strike against Pittston Coal Company when coal miners walked picket lines to preserve health care and retirement.
Trumka recently served as the president of the AFL-CIO beginning his term in 2009.
(PHOTO: Associated Press)
