Liz Shuler, the Milwaukie native who rose quickly through the ranks of U.S. organized labor, was elected president of the AFL-CIO Friday.
She is the first woman to hold the post, generally considered the top job in American unions. The AFL-CIO is a federation of 56 unions with 12.5 million members.
“It’s still settling in,” Shuler told The Oregonian/OregonLive. “It’s bittersweet.” The election was staged earlier than originally planned because Richard Trumka, longtime president of the federation, died unexpectedly early this month.
The number of union members has long been in decline. Private-sector union membership hit a new low of 6.2% in 2019. Yet, labor labor remains a powerful force in Washington, D.C. It has a vocal ally in the White House in Joe Biden.
Shuler said she will continue to work to get an infrastructure bill passed. Some economists have estimated the legislation could create 650,000 jobs.
Beyond that, Shuler said the union needs to “look inward” and determine how to make unions relevant to more Americans. The AFL-CIO needs to show that “that the labor movement is the path to a good, sustainable job.”
Shuler had served as AFL-CIO secretary-treasurer since 2009.
The AFL-CIO also elected Fred Redmond, international vice president of the United Steelworkers, to replace Shuler as secretary-treasurer. Redmond is the first African American to hold the No. 2 job.
Shuler is generally seen as a shrewd politician and talented team-builder. Last winter, Redmond lauded Shuler for tackling the deep divisions within the 56 unions that belong to the AFL-CIO.
“Liz is tenacious, she has an ability to pull people together,” he said. “Look, we have a lot of work to do in our union and throughout all of labor. But there ain’t no one else trying to tackle this, getting the Black workers, the beat cops, the prison guards to the same table.”
Shuler, 51, grew up in a wooded corner of Milwaukie that still feels far removed from the city. Both her parents worked for Portland General Electric. Her father, Lance, was a lineman for the utility and a proud union member.
She graduated from the University of Oregon with a journalism degree. But her dreams of a broadcasting career never materialized, and she got a job with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers in Oregon. The job became a calling when her father saw his retirement nest egg decimated after Texas energy giant Enron took over the local utility.
She was 34 when she was tapped to be chief of staff for IBEW President Ed Hill, a move that brought her to Washington, D.C.
Many viewed Shuler as the heavy favorite to replace Trumka, who was 72 and had announced his intention to retire. The other union leader considered a potential rival to Shuler was Sara Nelson, the high-profile head of the Association of Flight Attendants. Another Oregonian, Nelson grew up in Corvallis.
It’s unclear whether Nelson wanted the job. Shuler was the only candidate for president on the ballot Friday.
Shuler and Redmond’s terms will last just until June 2022. At that point, AFL-CIO delegates will gather at the group’s convention in Philadelphia and elect leaders to full four-year terms.
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