COALITION FOR HUMANE IMMIGRANT RIGHTS

PRESS STATEMENT

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:   August 5, 2021
CHIRLA MOURNS RICHARD TRUMKA, AFL-CIO PRESIDENT WHO BROUGHT UNION SUPPORT TO IMMIGRANT STRUGGLE
This son of a coal-mining family led the foremost workers' union starting in 2009, and he helped put it squarely in the immigrant rights camp with a campaign to change the immigration system in this country.
LOS ANGELES -- The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA), the largest immigrant rights organization in California, laments the passing of Richard Trumka, for 12 years the president of the AFL-CIO, a powerful partner in the fight for immigrant workers' rights. He was 72.
Trumka, a descendant of Italian and Polish immigrants and a third-generation miner, was a longtme partner of CHIRLA. He was a fixture in meetings with President Obama on immigration reform in the White House, in Congress, and in locations across the country. He worked tirelessly against deportations and worksite immigration raids, and he recognized that immigrant workers dominated many of the sectors that the AFL-CIO had unionized or was looking to unionize, particularly the services industry. He was a key adviser to President Biden on labor issues.
Please attribute the following statements to Angelica Salas, CHIRLA executive director:
"Rich Trumka was a fighter for immigrant workers and stood with us for a path to citzenship for undocumented immigrant workers and their families. He was a force in Washington, with close ties to Presidents Obama and Biden. When he was in the room, I knew we had a solid ally in bringing immigrants' concerns to the administration.
"I remember Rich came to California to meet with domestic workers and help them lobby for the Domestic Workers' Bill of Rights, which passed in 2013 and granted domestic workers the right to overtime pay after a nine-hour workday. Without his help, we would not have achieved that win. It was a signature moment for immigrant workers.
"As we witness the rebirth of the union labor movement in this country, we know we will miss Rich's leadership and recognize that he laid the foundation for that revitalization. He was a fighter against bigotry of all kinds. We will miss him."