Word: trumka
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...unexpectedly large 2-to-1 sweep in a heavy turnout, unionized coal miners elected Richard L. (Rich) Trumka, 33, a lawyer and third-generation miner, to head the 220,000-member U.M.W. (peak membership in 1942: 595,000). That will make Trumka the youngest leader of a major labor union in the U.S. when he takes office next month. He defeated Incumbent Sam M. Church Jr., 46, who was appointed to the job in 1979, when Arnold Miller resigned because of his health...
Possessing a bachelor's degree from Penn State and a law degree from Villanova, Trumka also becomes the best-educated U.M.W. leader in history, a fact he did not try to hide during the campaign. Overzealous aides even claimed that Trumka is a member of Phi Beta Kappa; they later admitted he is not. Said one Church worker: "Miners don't give a damn whether their president is a Phi Beta Kappa...
...election showed, though, that miners have changed since the fire-and-brimstone days of John L. Lewis. More than half are under 40. Many have gone to college, then back to the mines for the high wages of up to $100 a day. They approved of Trumka's style. He campaigned in a three-piece suit, while the tobacco-chewing Church stumped in coveralls...