Blumenthal Remarks on Passing of AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) delivered remarks on the floor of the U.S. Senate regarding the sudden passing of AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka:

“I want to say a word about Richard Trumka, a hero to all of us who care about working people and a good friend to many of us. I'm proud to call him a friend. And proud to have been with him as an ally in causes and principles that are so important to the present of America and the future of America. 

“I'm proud to have been with him on picket lines and platforms, to have stood with him and behind him in supporting the rights of working men and women to decent pay, fair treatment, and safety on the job. 

“He came from America and he never forgot where he came from. His life is a lesson to so many of us who seek to emulate his devotion to the public interest. And as a leader of the labor movement, his life always -- also reminds us that unions count, that collective bargaining means something, that the rights of working men and women succeed because they come together in unions and we ought to respect those unions, listen to them and champion their right to represent fairly and freely and to organize men and women on their jobs. 

“So we will miss Richard Trumka but his legacy is going to be an inspiration to all of us, certainly to me in fighting even harder for the great convictions, the sense of conscience, the wonderful heart and spirit that embraced people who disagreed with him, a life lesson for all of us.”

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