Biden calls newly elected AFL-CIO president

President Biden called newly announced AFL-CIO president Liz Shuler on Friday to congratulate her on her new position.

Shuler is the first woman to lead the labor federation and replaces long-time president Richard Trumka, who died of a heart attack on Aug. 5 at age 72.

“They discussed the work that the President and AFL-CIO will partner on to create good-paying union jobs, increase union membership, and pay workers a living wage. The President expressed his condolences to Liz on Rich Trumka’s passing,” a White House official said.

Shuler was the organization’s secretary-treasurer since 2009 and leads the labor federation at a critical time while it pushes for Democrats to prioritize the PRO Act, the pro-union bill meant to reverse a rapid decline in union membership.

Biden also congratulated Shuler in a statement on Friday, saying that Trumka would be proud of the “historic new team.” The AFL-CIO also elected United Steelworkers International Vice President Fred Redmond to succeed Shuler as secretary-treasurer. He is the first African American to hold the second-highest-ranking position.

Congratulations to Liz Shuler on being elected President of the AFL-CIO — I know Rich would be proud of the historic new team. I look forward to working alongside them to strengthen America’s unions and ensure every worker is treated with the dignity and respect they deserve.

— President Biden (@POTUS) August 20, 2021

Biden spoke with Trumka’s family on the day of his death and remembered him as a close friend and advocate for the middle class.

The president considered Trumka someone he could confide in and told a gathered crowd of lawmakers and auto union workers outside the White House earlier this month that the labor leader was “always there.”

“He was an American worker, always fighting for working people. Protecting their wages, their safety, their pensions and their ability to build a middle class life,” Biden said at the time.