ITHACA, N.Y. -- Richard Trumka, a third-generation coal miner from Pennsylvania who rose to become a leader of the AFL-CIO, the most powerful union the United States, will be this year's pre-Labor Day speaker at Cornell University.

Trumka's public lecture, "What's at Stake: the Future for Working Families," on labor, the economy and the 2004 election, will take place Thursday, Sept. 2, from 11:45 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. in 105 Ives Hall. The talk, which is sponsored by the School of Industrial and Labor Relations (ILR), is free and open to the public.

Trumka spoke most recently before the Democratic National Convention, July 29, calling U.S. trade policies "suicidal" for shipping overseas 2.7 million jobs over the past three and a half years -- most of them "highly skilled jobs that pay decent wages, provide health insurance and pensions." He called for repealing tax subsidies that encourage corporations to send work overseas, for strong workers rights and environmental protections in all new and existing trade agreements and for new incentives that would allow companies to keep jobs in the United States.

Trumka is the youngest secretary-treasurer in AFL-CIO history. He was first elected to the post in 1995 at the age of 46 and is now serving his third term. In 1994, President Bill Clinton named Trumka to the Bipartisan Commission on Entitlement and Tax Reform to represent the interests of working families.

Born in Nemacolin, Pa., in 1949, Trumka started out as a coal miner at age 19, following two generations of family members who worked in the Pennsylvania mines. He rose to prominence as a member of United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) Local 6290, serving as chairman of the safety committee. He became an activist in the Miners for Democracy reform movement and served four years on the legal staff of the UMWA during the reform administration of Arnold Miller. Returning to work in the mines in 1978, he was elected to the union's executive board in 1981 and in 1982 was elected international president, a post he held for three terms.

As head of the UMWA, Trumka led two major strikes, against the Pittston Coal Co. and the Bituminous Coal Operators Association. The actions resulted in significant advances in employee-employer cooperation and the enhancement of mine workers' job security, pensions and benefits. He also played a key role in organizing a new global coalition of coal miners' unions in five countries.

Under Trumka's leadership as secretary-treasurer of the AFL-CIO, member unions now sponsor pension and benefit plans with more than $400 billion in assets and are a major force in the global capital markets. He also led pension enhancement efforts through the creation of the AFL-CIO's Capital Stewardship Program in 1997. The program promotes corporate governance reform, investment manager accountability, pro-worker investment strategies, international pension fund cooperation and trustee education. One goal: to ensure that workers' deferred wages are wisely invested to provide the best long-term benefits.

Since 1989 Trumka has served on the AFL-CIO's Executive Council, where he rallied the support of international labor for U.S. workers battling international conglomerates. He also is chairman of the union's Strategic Approaches Committee, charged with helping affiliated unions achieve their strategic goals through collective bargaining. In addition, he chairs the AFL-CIO Finance and Capital Stewardship committees.

Among the many awards Trumka has received are the Labor Responsibility Award from the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change in 1990. He is a graduate of Pennsylvania State University and holds a law degree from Villanova University Law School.

Trumka's talk is part of the ILR School's annual pre-Labor Day celebration. For further information, contact Richard Hurd, 255-2765 or rwh8@cornell.edu .