A recent press release from the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee, America's largest registered nurse (RN) union, announced the group's support for Richard Trumka as the next President of American Federation of Labor- Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO).
The influential, 86,000 member CNA/NNOC praised retiring President John Sweeney, while promoting Trumka, current AFL-CIO Secretary Treasurer, as the new President.
?Rich Trumka is a bold, strategic, and a fighting leader," said CNA/NNOC Executive Director Rose Ann DeMoro, a national Vice-President of the AFL-CIO. "His uncommon and uncompromising spirit, and his passion for working people and social change are especially needed in this critical juncture for America's workers and unions."
"For the past two decades, America's nurses have not had a better friend and ally than Rich Trumka," added CNA Co-President Deborah Burger, RN. "From his exceptional stewardship as a former President of the United Mine Workers to his current role in the AFL-CIO, Trumka has stood with nurses and patients in confronting the ravages of corporate medical care and in defending the rights and standards of CNA/NNOC members and other working nurses."
CNA/NNOC President Emeritus Kay McVay, RN, praised Trumka's support for San Francisco Bay Area nurses in the early 1990s, saying, ?When our patients? safety, and our members' livelihoods were on the line, Rich Trumka was there." Trumka, then UMW President, provided financial and tactical support for the Committee's members at an area hospital, fighting a reduction in patient care and RN layoffs during a national struggle against corporate hospital restructuring.
DeMoro praised Trumka's achievements in the healthcare world, including winning retiree health protections for miners, particularly those suffering from job-related injuries and ailments, calling Trumk'as actions "an inspiring model for all American workers. Rich Trumka is the type of labor leader that every worker would like to see at their bargaining table."
The next AFL-CIO presidential election will be held at its convention in Pittsburgh in September.