Expert Blog

Thoughts on the Passing of Richard Trumka

When it came to environmental issues, we shared the same long-term goals on addressing environmental health, addressing the climate crisis and making a better world for families and workers. We didn’t always agree on the exact right path to reach those goals, but never did those differences stop the work toward the larger goal. If anything, understanding these differences helped make our approach on addressing the climate crisis better and more inclusive.
“Today we are focused on the biggest issues facing our society—the intertwined challenges of an endangered global climate and our nation’s endangered prosperity. We must solve both those challenges, and we must solve them at the same time."
Trumka: We Must Be Pro-Job and Pro-Environment, Feb, 2014
Credit: https://aflcio.org/speeches/trumka-we-must-be-pro-job-and-pro-environment
Marc Boom
Director, Federal Affairs, Center for Policy Advocacy

Yesterday, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka suddenly passed away. A titan of the labor movement, he will be missed by so, so many.  Our thoughts are with our friends in the labor movement during this time of loss.

I did not know him personally, but anyone who works on policy in Washington certainly knew of him and his significant influence in American politics as a constant force for standing up for worker rights and safety, democracy and better lives for all Americans. 

When it came to environmental issues, we shared the same long-term goals on addressing environmental health, addressing the climate crisis and making a better world for families and workers.  We didn’t always agree on the exact right path to reach those goals, but never did those differences stop the work toward the larger goal.  If anything, understanding these differences helped make our approach on addressing the climate crisis better and more inclusive.

When he said that workers must “not bear the cost of climate policy alone”, it was a clear call for us to put workers at the forefront of climate policy.  To those of us who listened, his words made a difference and we have been working to make sure that the clean energy future we work towards is also one where workers thrive not just survive. Where those historically left out of prosperity have new roads into a better future. Products like the BlueGreen Alliance's Solidarity for Climate Action platform are a direct result of reconciling these differences.

"Working families and communities want to know, and deserve to know, that doing what is necessary to fight climate change won’t result in unemployment or a reduced standard of living. The shift to clean energy is a tremendous opportunity to create jobs."
Credit: https://twitter.com/RichardTrumka/status/1354537432138608642

Others mourning his loss have described him as a “relentless champion”. It is clear his passion inspired so many in labor. We have seen that passion every day in the dedicated men and women in the labor movement who work with us to solve the climate crisis, address environmental harms, and build a better life for everyone. His leadership will be sorely missed as the work must go on. Thanks to him, we are all better equipped to succeed in creating a world that is healthier, fairer, and cleaner.