Longtime AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka has died at 72

WASHINGTON, DC — The longtime president of the AFL-CIO labor union has died.

News of Richard Trumka’s death was announced Thursday by President Joe Biden and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

Trumka was 72 and had been AFL-CIO president since 2009, after serving as the organization’s secretary-treasurer for 14 years.

Schumer, an ally of the union boss, said, “The working people of America have lost a fierce warrior at a time when we needed him most.”

Biden called Trumka “a close friend” who was “more than the head of AFL-CIO.”

Further details of Trumka’s death were not immediately available.