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The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL–CIO) is a national trade union center, the largest federation of unions in the United States, made up of fifty-six national and international unions,^[3] together representing more than 11 million workers (as of June 2008, the most recent official statistic).^[1] It was formed in 1955 when the AFL and the CIO merged after a long estrangement. From 1955 until 2005, the AFL–CIO's member unions represented nearly all unionized workers in the United States. Several large unions split away from AFL–CIO and formed the rival Change to Win Federation in 2005. The largest union currently in the AFL–CIO is the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), with more than a million members.

Membership[link]

AFL-CIO headquarters in Washington, D.C.

The AFL–CIO is a federation of international labor unions. As a voluntary federation, the AFL–CIO has little authority over the affairs of its member unions except in extremely limited cases (such as the ability to expel a member union for corruption (Art. X, Sec. 17) and enforce resolution of disagreements over jurisdiction or organizing). As of June 2008, the AFL–CIO had 56 member unions.

Membership in the AFL–CIO is largely unrestricted. Since its inception as the American Federation of Labor, the AFL–CIO has supported an image of the federation as the "House of Labor"—an all-inclusive, national federation of "all" labor unions. Currently, the AFL–CIO's only explicit restriction on membership excludes those labor unions whose "policies and activities are consistently directed toward the achievement of the program or purposes of authoritarianism, totalitarianism, terrorism and other forces that suppress individual liberties and freedom of association..." (Art. II, Sec. 7). Under Art. II, Sec. 4 and Sec. 8, the AFL–CIO has the authority to place conditions on the issuance of charters, and formally has endorsed the policy of merging small unions into larger ones. In 2001, the AFL–CIO formally established rules regarding the size, financial stability, governance structure, jurisdiction, and leadership stability of unions seeking affiliation. And although the AFL–CIO constitution permits the federation to charter Directly Affiliated Local Unions, the AFL–CIO has largely refused to charter such unions since the 1970s.

A list of current member unions may be found at List of unions affiliated with the AFL-CIO.

In recent years the AFL–CIO has concentrated its political efforts on lobbying in Washington and the state capitals, and on "GOTV" (get-out-the-vote) campaigns and in major elections. For example, in the 2010 midterm elections, it sent 28.6 million pieces of mail. Members will receive a "slate card" with a list of union endorsements matched to the member's Congressional district, along with a "personalized" letter from President Trumka emphasizing the importance of voting. In addition, 100,000 volunteers will be going door to door to promote endorsed candidates to 13 million union voters in 32 states .^[4]

Governance[link]

The AFL–CIO is governed by its members, who meet in a quadrennial convention. Each member union elects delegates, based on proportional representation. The AFL–CIO's state federations, central and local labor councils, constitutional departments, and constituent groups are also entitled to delegates. The delegates elect officers and vice presidents, debate and approve policy, and set dues.

Executive council[link]

The AFL–CIO has three executive officers: president, secretary-treasurer and executive vice president. The executive vice president is the most recently established office; it was created by constitutional amendment in 1995. Each officer's term is four years, and elections occur at the quadrennial convention.

Current officers are:

• President: Richard Trumka (2009- )
• Secretary-Treasurer: Liz Shuler (2009- )
• Executive Vice-President: Arlene Holt Baker (2009- )

The AFL–CIO membership also elects 43 vice presidents at each convention, who have a term of four years. Election is by plurality, with the top 43 candidates with the highest votes winning office. Article VI, Sec. 5, of the AFL–CIO constitution permits the president of the federation to appoint up to three additional vice presidents during the period when the convention is not in session, in order to increase the racial, gender, ethnic and sexual diversity of the executive council.

The three officers and the vice presidents form the executive council, which is the federation's governing body between quadrennial conventions. It is required to meet twice a year, and in practice meets four or five times a year. It passes resolutions, directly oversees AFL–CIO's legislative program, and has other duties. In 2005, the AFL–CIO constitution was changed to permit the executive council to form "Industrial Coordinating Committees" based on geography, employer, occupation or other appropriate subdivisions to coordinate the organizing and collective bargaining work of the member unions.

Executive committee[link]

An executive committee was authorized by constitutional change in 2005. The executive committee is composed of the president, vice presidents from the 10 largest affiliates, and nine other vice presidents chosen in consultation with the executive council. The other two officers are non-voting ex officio members. The executive committee governs the AFL–CIO between meetings of the executive council, approves its budget, and issues charters (two duties formerly discharged by the executive council). It is required to meet at least four times a year, and in practice meets on an as-needed basis (which may mean once a month or more).

General Board[link]

The AFL–CIO also has a General Board. Its members are the AFL–CIO executive council, the chief executive officer of each member union, the president of each AFL–CIO constitutional department, and four regional representatives elected by the AFL–CIO's state federations. The General Board's duties are very limited. It only takes up matters referred to it by the executive council, but referrals are rare. However, because of the sensitive nature of political endorsements and the advisability of consensus when making them, the General Board traditionally is the body that provides the AFL–CIO's endorsement of candidates for president and vice president of the United States.

State and local bodies[link]

Article XIV of the AFL–CIO constitution permits the AFL–CIO to charter and organize state, regional, local and city-wide bodies. They are commonly called "state federations" and "central labor councils" (CLCs), although the names of the various bodies varies widely at the local and regional level. Each body has its own charter, which establishes its jurisdiction, governance structure, mission, and more. Jurisdiction tends to be geo-political: Each state or territory has its own "state federation." In large cities, there is usually a CLC covering the city. Outside large cities, CLCs tend to be regional (to achieve an economy of scale in terms of dues, administrative effectiveness, etc.). State federations and CLCs are each entitled to representation and voting rights at the quadrennial convention.

The duties of state federations differ from those of CLCs. State federations tend to focus on state legislative lobbying, statewide economic policy, state elections, and other issues of a more over-arching nature. CLCs tend to focus on county or city lobbying, city or county elections, county or city zoning and other economic issues, and more local needs.

Both state federations and CLCs work to mobilize members around organizing campaigns, collective bargaining campaigns, electoral politics, lobbying (most often rallies and demonstrations), strikes, picketing, boycotts, and similar needs.

Although the AFL–CIO constitution requires that all state and local unions affiliate with the appropriate state and local AFL–CIO body, in practice this is not enforced. Many unions do not affiliate with their state federation or CLC, or affiliate only a portion of their membership, leaving state feds and CLCs chronically short of funds.

Interestingly, the AFL–CIO constitution permits international unions to pay state fed and CLC dues directly, rather than have each local or state fed pay them. This relieves each union's state and local affiliates of the administrative duty of assessing, collecting and paying the dues. International unions assess the AFL–CIO dues themselves, and collect them on top of their own dues-generating mechanisms or simply pay them out of the dues the international collects. But not all international unions pay their required state fed and CLC dues.^[5]

State federations and CLCs are historically important to the AFL and its successor, the AFL–CIO. George Meany, for example, had little experience as a union member or local union leader, but rose quickly to the top of the AFL–CIO due to his effectiveness as president of the New York State AFL. During the AFL's early history, when the federation remained as apolitical as possible, state feds were the legislative dynamos—lobbying for workers' compensation, unemployment insurance, child labor laws and the minimum wage. But in the 1970s and 1980s, state feds and CLCs became organizational backwaters. They were revitalized beginning in 1995, when John Sweeney campaigned heavily for their votes in his successful quest to unseat AFL–CIO interim president Thomas R. Donahue. Sweeney continued to emphasize them throughout his presidency.

Constitutional departments[link]

Throughout its history, the AFL–CIO had a number of constitutionally mandated departments. They are governed by Article XII of the constitution. Initially, the rationale for having them was that affiliates felt that such decisions should not be left to the whims (or political needs) of the president of the federation.

Currently, Art. XII establishes seven departments, but allows the executive council or convention of the AFL–CIO to establish others. Each department is largely autonomous, but its must conform to the AFL–CIO's constitution and policies. Each department has its own constitution, membership, officers, governance structure, dues and organizational structure. Departments may establish state and local bodies. Any member union of the AFL–CIO may join a department, provided it formally affiliates and pays dues. The chief executive officer of each department may sit in on the meetings of the AFL–CIO executive council. Departments have representation and voting rights at the AFl-CIO convention.

One of the most famous departments was the Industrial Union Department (IUD). It had been constitutionally mandated by the new AFL–CIO constitution created by the merger of the AFL and CIO in 1955, as CIO unions felt that the AFL's commitment to industrial unionism was not strong enough to permit the department to survive without a constitutional mandate. For many years, the IUD was a de facto organizing department in the AFL–CIO. For example, it provided money to the near-destitute American Federation of Teachers (AFT) as it attempted to organize the United Federation of Teachers in 1961. The organizing money enabled the AFT to win the election and establish its first large collective bargaining affiliate. For many years, the IUD remained rather militant on a number of issues. It proved to be a center of opposition to AFL–CIO president John Sweeney, and was abolished in 1999.

As of January 2007, there are six AFL–CIO constitutionally mandated departments:

• Building and Construction Trades Department, AFL–CIO
• Maritime Trades Department, AFL–CIO
• Metal Trades Department, AFL–CIO
• Department for Professional Employees, AFL–CIO
• Transportation Trades Department, AFL–CIO
• Union Label Department, AFL–CIO

Constituency groups[link]

"Constituency groups" are nonprofit, nonpartisan organizations chartered and funded by the AFL–CIO to enhance the representational effectiveness of various under-represented groups. Usually they serve as a means to enhance the organizing of new members and as voter registration and mobilization bodies. The four more mature constituency groups are A. Phillip Randolph Institute, Alliance for Retired Americans, Coalition of Black Trade Unionists and Coalition of Labor Union Women. They conduct research, host training and educational conferences, issue research reports and publications, lobby for legislation and build coalitions with local groups.

Although constituency groups are not explicitly mentioned in the AFL–CIO constitution, the AFL–CIO exercises its general authority under Article XII to establish them in much the same way that it establishes other departments. Each constituency group has its own charter, officers, governance structure, etc., as constitutionally mandated departments do. They also have the right to sit in on AFL–CIO executive council meetings, and have representational and voting rights at AFL–CIO conventions. Many constituency groups are not self-sustaining and receive significant funding from the AFL–CIO.

As of January 2007, there are seven constituency groups within the AFL–CIO:

• A. Philip Randolph Institute
• Alliance for Retired Americans
• Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance
• Coalition of Black Trade Unionists
• Coalition of Labor Union Women
• Labor Council for Latin American Advancement
• Pride at Work

Allied organizations[link]

"Allied organizations" are nonprofit, nonpartisan organizations chartered and funded by the AFL–CIO to serve certain policy goals of the federation.

Although allied organizations are not explicitly mentioned in the AFL–CIO constitution, the AFL–CIO exercises its general authority under Article XII to establish them in much the same way that it establishes other departments. Each allied organization has its own charter, officers, governance structure, etc., as constitutionally mandated departments do. However, they do not have the right to sit in on AFL–CIO executive council meetings, and do not have representational or voting rights at AFL–CIO conventions. The current three allied organization are all self-sustaining. Their boards share members with the AFL–CIO executive council.

As of January 2007, there are three allied organizations:

• American Center for International Labor Solidarity
• International Labor Communications Association
• Working for America Institute

They have evolved in a number of ways. For example, The Working for America Institute started out as a department of the AFL–CIO. Established in 1958, it was previously known as the Human Resources Development Institute (HRDI). President Sweeney renamed the department and spun it off as an independent organization in 1998 to act as a lobbying group to promote economic development, develop new economic polices, and lobby Congress on economic policy.^[6] The American Center for International Labor Solidarity started out as the Free Trade Union Committee (FTUC), which internationally promoted free labor-unions.^[7]

Allied groups[link]

"Allied groups" are organizations that have more informal relationships to the AFL–CIO. Some, like the Labor and Working-Class History Association, are truly independent organizations that wish to work very closely with the AFL–CIO and promote its mission and goals. Others, like American Rights at Work, are independent in name only; they are nonprofit, nonpartisan organizations with their own articles of incorporation, charter, governance structure, etc., but are funded largely by the AFL–CIO, and their boards are dominated by its directors. Others are plainly programs of the AFL–CIO operated as federation-wide, cross-cutting organizations serving AFL–CIO goals (such as disaster relief or member mobilization apart from legislative or organizing work). These programs have little or no staff (often using staff already employed by the AFL–CIO), and little or no need for funding (or using funds provided on an as-needed basis through existing AFL–CIO budgets).

As of January 2007, there are four allied groups:

• American Rights at Work
• Community Services Network
• Labor and Working-Class History Association
• Working America

Programs[link]

"Programs" are organizations established and controlled by the AFL–CIO to serve certain organizational goals. Because of legal requirements (such as federal and state securities laws), they are truly independent organizations. But their governance structures are either dominated by or have sizable blocks of AFL–CIO directors, which effectively direct them to implement policies favored by the AFL–CIO.

Programs serve a variety of goals. For example, the AFL–CIO Building Trust enables union pension and health funds to invest in the for-profit Building Investment Trust. The Trust then uses this capital to construct office buildings, hotels, housing developments, and other capital construction. Some profits are kept by the Trust to build its investment capabilities, the rest are distributed to the investors. Other programs serve goals such as the banking needs of individual union members (AFL–CIO Credit Union) or to provide credit card and other consumer services (Union Privilege).

As of January 2007, there were five programs of the AFL–CIO:

• AFL-CIO Building Investment Trust
• AFL-CIO Employees Federal Credit Union
• AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust
• National Labor College
• Union Privilege

International policy[link]

The AFL–CIO is affiliated to the Brussels-based International Trade Union Confederation, formed November 1, 2006, and incorporating the member organizations of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, of which the AFL–CIO had long been part. The ITUC is the most representative international labor grouping.^{[citation needed]}

History[link]

For the history of the AFL-CIO prior to and including the merger see American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations and Labor unions in the United States.

In 2003, the AFL–CIO began an intense internal debate over the future of the labor movement in the United States with the creation of the New Unity Partnership (NUP), a loose coalition of some of the AFL–CIO's largest unions. This debate intensified in 2004, after the defeat of labor-backed candidate John Kerry in the November 2004 U.S. presidential election. The NUP's program for reform of the federation included reduction of the central bureaucracy, more money spent on organizing new members rather than on electoral politics, and a restructuring of unions and locals, eliminating some smaller locals and focusing more along the lines of industrial unionism.

In 2005, the NUP dissolved and the Change to Win Federation (CtW) formed, threatening to secede from the AFL–CIO if its demands for major reorganization were not met. As the AFL–CIO prepared for its 50th anniversary convention in late July, three of the federations' four largest unions announced their withdrawal from the federation: the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the International Brotherhood of Teamsters ("The Teamsters"),^[8] and the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW).^[9] UNITE HERE disaffiliated in mid-September 2005,^[10] the United Farm Workers left in January 2006,^[11] and the Laborers' International Union of North America disaffiliated on June 1, 2006.^[12]

Two unions later left CtW and rejoined the AFL–CIO. After a bitter internal leadership dispute that involved allegations of embezzlement and accusations that SEIU was attempting to raid the union,^[13] a substantial number of UNITE HERE members formed their own union (Workers United) while the remainder of UNITE HERE reaffiliated with the AFL–CIO on September 17, 2009.^[14] The Laborers' International Union of North America said on August 13, 2010, that it would also leave Change to Win and rejoin the AFL–CIO in October 2010.^[15]

Presidents[link]

• George Meany (1955–1979)
• Lane Kirkland (1979–1995)
• Thomas R. Donahue (1995)
• John J. Sweeney (1995–2009)
• Richard Trumka (2009- )

See also[link]

Organized labour portal

• List of unions affiliated with the AFL-CIO
• Labor unions in the United States
• Labor movement
• List of U.S. trade unions
• Directly Affiliated Local Union (DALU)
• Change to Win Federation
• Labor federation competition in the U.S.
• Union Organizer

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Amber, Michelle. "SEIU Agrees to Pay Nearly $4 Million to Settle Dispute With AFL-CIO Over Dues." Daily Labor Report. March 2, 2006.
• Constitution of the AFL-CIO, as amended at the Twenty-Fifth Constitutional Convention, July 25-28, 2005. Accessed January 15, 2007.
• Gilroy, Tom. "Labor to Stress Get-Out-the-Vote Among Members in Fall Elections." Labor Relations Week. October 21, 1998.
• Greenhouse, Steven. "For Chairwoman of Breakaway Labor Coalition, Deep Roots in the Movement." New York Times. October 10, 2005.

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: AFL-CIO

• AFL-CIO official website
• One Hat for Labor? by David Moberg, The Nation, April 29, 2009

Stuart Varney (born July 7, 1949)^[1] is a British-American economic journalist, and as of 2011, working for the Fox News Channel and the Fox Business Network. Varney joined Fox News in January, 2004 as a business contributor on many shows, such as Your World with Neil Cavuto. He also occasionally serves as guest host for Your World and the shows on the Cost of Freedom business block. Varney graduated from the London School of Economics.^[1] He began his broadcast journalism career at KEMO-TV (now KOFY-TV) in San Francisco.^[2] In 1980 he joined the Manhattan bureau of the newly founded CNN and hosted shows like Business Day and Business Asia.^[1][2] From 1999 to 2001, he hosted CNN’s Moneyline with Willow Bay and has also worked for CNBC. Varney is a regular panel member on the FOX business analysis and stock trade investment program Cashin' In.

Varney now hosts the show, "Varney & Co." on the Fox Business Network, which airs from 9:20 to 11 a.m. every weekday. Along with Varney, the show is also co-hosted by Charles Payne, Tracy Byrnes and Chris Cotter.

Varney grew up in Derby, Derbyshire, England and has lived in the United States since 1974. Previously living in Wyckoff, New Jersey, he has lived in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey since 1994. He is married and has six children.^[1]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Bio on FoxNews.com
• Bio on FoxBusiness.com

Richard Trumka
Born	(1949-07-24) July 24, 1949 (age 62) Nemacolin, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Nationality	American
Occupation	Miner; Labor leader; Attorney/Litigator
Known for	President, United Mine Workers of America; Secretary-Treasurer, AFL-CIO; President, AFL-CIO
Union affiliation	United Mine Workers of America AFL-CIO
Strikes organized	against Peabody Coal in 1993 against the Pittston Coal Company in 1989

Richard Louis Trumka (born July 24, 1949)^[1] is an organized labor leader in the United States. He was elected President of the AFL-CIO on September 16, 2009, at the labor federation's convention in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.^[2] He served as the Secretary-Treasurer of the AFL-CIO, from 1995 to 2009, and prior to that was President of the United Mine Workers from 1982 to December 22, 1995. Mr. Trumka was named in Esquire Magazine's 2011 Americans of the Year.^[3]

Life and career[link]

Trumka was born in Nemacolin, Pennsylvania near Pittsburgh, to an Italian American mother,^[4] Eola Elizabeth (Bertugli), and a second-generation Polish American father, coal miner Frank Richard Trumka.^[1][5] He is a Roman Catholic.^[6] He went to work in the mines in 1968.^[5] He received a bachelor of science degree from Pennsylvania State University in 1971 and a law degree from Villanova University in 1974.^[1][7] He married Barbara Vidovich in 1982. They have one son.^[1][8]

National labor career[link]

From 1974 to 1979, Trumka was a staff attorney with the United Mine Workers at their headquarters in Washington, D.C.^[1] He was elected to the board of directors of UMWA District 4 in 1981 and became President of the United Mine Workers in 1982.^[1]

While President of the UMWA, Trumka led a successful nine-month strike against the Pittston Coal Company in 1989, which became a symbol of resistance against employer cutbacks and retrenchment for the entire labor movement.^[9] A major issue in the dispute was Pittston's refusal to pay into the industrywide health and retirement fund created in 1950. Trumka encouraged non-violent civil disobedience to confront the company and relied on a corporate campaign involving Wall Street investors.

The United Mine Workers conducted a nationwide strike against Peabody Coal in 1993. Trumka was asked to respond to the possibility that some coal companies might hire permanent replacement workers.^[10] He told the Associated Press in September 1993, "I'm saying if you strike a match and you put your finger in it, you're likely to get burned."^[11] He also said, "That doesn't mean I'm threatening to burn you. That just means if you strike the match, and you put your finger in it, common sense will tell you it'll burn your finger. Common sense will tell you that in these strikes, that when you inject scabs, a number of things happen. And a confrontation is one of the potentials that can happen. Do I want it to happen? Absolutely not. Do I think it can happen? Yes, I think it can happen."^[10] The Associated Press reported that he was not threatening violence, and noted that UMWA staff had spent "thousands of man hours trying to prevent anything from happening ... to our members or by our members."^[12]

Despite claims of non-violence by Trumka during the strike, a union coal miner, Jerry Dale Lowe, was eventually convicted in 1994 of killing Eddie York at a mine owned by the Arch Mineral Corporation. ^[13]

Besides his domestic labor activities, Trumka established an office that raised U.S. mineworker solidarity with the miners in South Africa while they were fighting apartheid.^[14] He further served as the U.S. Shell boycott chairman, which challenged the multinational Royal Dutch/Shell Group for its continued business dealings in South Africa. For these steps, Trumka received the 1990 Letelier-Moffitt Human Rights Award.

During his tenure as Secretary-Treasurer of the AFL-CIO, Trumka focused on creating investment programs for the pension and benefit funds of the labor movement, capital market strategies,^[15] and demanding corporate accountability to America's communities. He chaired the AFL-CIO Industrial Union Council, a consortium of manufacturing unions focusing on key issues in trade, health care and labor law reform. He co-chairs the China Currency Coalition, an alliance of industry, agriculture, services, and worker organizations whose stated mission is to support U.S. manufacturing.^[16]

But Trumka's tenure as Secretary-Treasurer was not without controversy. In 1996, Teamsters president Ron Carey was locked in a tight reelection battle with James P. Hoffa, son of disappeared Teamsters president Jimmy Hoffa and a long-time Teamsters union attorney. Hoffa was also out-raising Carey in funds by more than 4-to-1, but the Carey campaign was convinced it could win if the campaign could bypass the local leadership (which supported Hoffa) and get his message directly to Teamsters members.^[17] Martin Davis, a Carey campaign consultant who owned The November Group (a direct-marketing company), allegedly contacted Trumka in the summer of 1996 and concocted a scheme whereby the Teamsters would donate $150,000 to the AFL-CIO for spurious get-out-the-vote efforts and the AFL-CIO would pay the same amount to Citizen Action (a liberal grassroots lobbying and organizing group).^[17] Citizen Action would then pay $100,000 to The November Group, which would use the cash to finance Carey's direct marketing effort.^[18][19][20] The alleged scheme was revealed on August 22, 1997, by a federal government official overseeing the Teamsters' election.^[20][21] The federal government overturned Carey's successful reelection, and ordered a new election.^[22] On November 17, 1997, a federal official disqualified Carey from seeking elective office in the union.^[18] Carey was indicted on federal perjury charges in January 2001,^[23] pled not guilty,^[24] and was found not guilty on all charges on October 12, 2001.^[25] Trumka invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination during the government's grand jury investigation and a congressional panel, but was never charged with any crimes.^[26][27][28] Although the AFL-CIO had a policy (enacted in the wake of several Teamsters' scandals in the late 1950s) appearing to require anyone who asserted their Fifth Amendment rights to be removed from office, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney wrote in a letter sent to AFL-CIO member unions in November 1997 that the AFL-CIO policy regarding assertion of Fifth Amendment rights had "never been applied by the federation".^[29] The letter went on to say that "The policy calls for removal only when the union determines that the Fifth Amendment is being invoked to conceal discovery of corruption. The AFL-CIO, as you know, has for some time been conducting its own internal inquiry and has no basis to conclude that there was any unlawful conduct by Secretary-Treasurer Trumka. ... It is clear that the policy does not apply."^[29] During testimony before a congressional subcommittee on April 30, 1998, Sweeney said that a December 1957 resolution adopted by the AFL-CIO amended the policy so that it would not be automatically invoked but rather applied only if the invocation of Fifth Amendment rights were used "as a shield to avoid discovery of corruption".^[27][30] The labor federation appeared satisfied that Trumka should not step down. After Trumka spoke to an executive session of the AFL-CIO Executive Board in January 1998, board members said their concerns about Trumka's involvement in the scandal had been alleviated.^[31] On April 30, 1998, Sweeney said no evidence had yet come to light indicating any wrongdoing by Trumka.^[27]

On July 1, 2008, Trumka delivered a speech attacking racism in the 2008 presidential election.^[5][32] A video ^[33] with an excerpt of the speech attracted more than 535,000 hits on YouTube as of July 1, 2009.^[5] Trumka's video was "surely the first YouTube moment in the history" of the labor movement.^[34]

Trumka was elected president of the AFL-CIO after the retirement of John Sweeney in 2009^[2] and president of the Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD in May 2010.^[35]

References[link]

External links[link]

Organized labour portal

Media related to Richard Trumka at Wikimedia Commons

• AFL-CIO
• United Mine Workers of America
• Richard Trumka speech attacking racism in the 2008 presidential election
• The Letelier-Moffitt Human Rights Award

Sean Patrick Maloney
White House Staff Secretary
In office 1999–2000
President	Bill Clinton
Preceded by	Phillip M. Caplan
Succeeded by	Lisel Loy
First Deputy Secretary to the Governor of New York
In office 2007–2009
Governor	Eliot Spitzer David Paterson
Personal details
Born	1966
Political party	Democratic
Alma mater	University of Virginia (B.A.) University of Virginia School of Law (J.D.)
Occupation	Attorney Politician

Sean Patrick Maloney (born 1966) is an American politician from New York State and, in 2006, was a Democratic candidate for state Attorney General. He is the former First Deputy Secretary to the Governor, which made him a senior adviser and Cabinet member of New York Gov. David Paterson. He also served as First Deputy Secretary in the administration of Gov. Eliot Spitzer.

Personal life[link]

Maloney has been with his partner, Randy Florke (b. 1962), since 1992. They have three adopted children (Jesús, Daley, and Essie) and reside in New York City and Jeffersonville, New York.^[1]

Career[link]

Maloney earned his B.A. from the University of Virginia in 1988, and worked in Peru as a volunteer social worker from 1988 to 1989. In 1992, he received his J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law.

Maloney was a senior West Wing adviser to President Bill Clinton between 1997 and 2000. Maloney was the youngest person ever to serve as the President's White House Staff Secretary, and was also the highest-ranking openly gay man ever to serve on the White House staff.^{[citation needed]}

From 2000 to 2003, Maloney served as Chief Operating Officer of Kiodex, Inc., a Warburg Pincus portfolio company that later became a subsidiary of SunGard.

Maloney was an associate at the law firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, specializing in institutional investigations until 2007.

He also represented the family of hate crime victim Matthew Shepard.^[2]

Maloney was hired in January 2007 by Governor Eliot Spitzer as First Deputy Secretary under Spitzer's top adviser, Rich Baum.^[3] He continued in the role under Paterson's top adviser, Charles O'Byrne, following Spitzer's resignation on March 17, 2008. On December 3, 2008, Maloney announced that he would leave the Governor's office to join the law firm Kirkland & Ellis.^[4]

In March 2011 he joined the law firm Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe as a partner.^[5]

In March 2012, Maloney announced his intention to run as a Democrat for New York's newly-drawn 18th congressional district, running against Tea Party favorite Nan Hayworth.^[6]

2006 election for state Attorney General[link]

Maloney's campaign was lauded for its innovative use of technology, fundraising ability, and successful grassroots outreach. Maloney's candor during televised debates received wide praise in the media. Maloney came in third place in the September 12, 2006 Democratic primary, obtaining 9.4% of the vote.^[7]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Maloney's profile at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe

This article about a politician from the state of New York is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Patrick Maloney was a professional American Welterweight boxer from the Yorkville section of New York City. As an amateur boxer, Maloney advanced to the finals of the 1972 New York Golden Gloves 147 lb. Open Division. He was defeated by future Light Heavyweight Champion Eddie Gregory whom later changed his name to Eddie Mustafa Muhammad. As an amateur Maloney fought four golden glove champions losing by decision to Edwin Viruet, Harold Weston, Ray Hammond and Eddie Gregory.

Maloney started his professional career on November 11, 1974 with a four round decision win over Felix "Kid" Perez at the Felt Forum in New York City. Maloney holds notable wins over George Fakaras, Vince Pavon, Frank Minnigan, Lloyd Blake and Willie Davis. Maloney was defeated by Johnny Turner, Sean Mannion and Randy Milton. Maloney also sparred with world champions such as Vito Antuofermo, Saoul Mamby, Billy Costello, and Roberto Duran.

Maloney boxed twice as a professional boxer at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Additionally, he boxed at the now defunct Sunnyside Garden Arena in Sunnyside, Queens.

Patrick Maloney ended his career in 1980. His unofficial professional record is 15 wins and 3 losses. Patrick continued staying in shape past his boxing career by running 19 marathons and babysitting his four young grandchildren.

References[link]

• Professional boxing record for Patrick Maloney from BoxRec