< 25 Top Pension Power Players

20. Richard Trumka
President, AFL-CIO
Since Richard Trumka’s 2009 election as president of the 12.5 million-member AFL-CIO, the largest organization of labor unions in the U.S., his job has only gotten more difficult. Even before Donald Trump was elected along with a Republican majority in both houses of Congress, unions — and traditional pensions — were under assault. Trumka, 67, comes from a family of coal miners and worked in the Pennsylvania mines before earning a law degree from Villanova University in 1974 to help achieve his childhood goal of aiding miners. Fair wages and pension benefits for union members are key issues for Trumka, a founding member of the National Public Pension Coalition, which fights to protect public sector workers’ pensions and has been at the forefront of pushing for an expansion of Social Security. — Frances Denmark
The 2017 Pension Political Power 25
![]() Secretary of Labor ![]() Governor of Illinois ![]() Secretary of Education ![]() Founders, Laura and John Arnold Foundation ![]() Secretary of the Treasury |
![]() Secretary of Commerce ![]() California Chief Justice ![]() Speaker of the House ![]() Founder, SkyBridge Capital ![]() California State Senator and President Pro Tempore |
![]() Chairman, Senate Subcommittee on Primary Health and Retirement Security ![]() President, New Jersey State Senate ![]() Governor of California ![]() Co-founder, Avenue Strategies ![]() President, Elliott Management Corp. |
![]() Senior Vice President, Labor, Immigration, and Employee Benefits, U.S. Chamber of Commerce ![]() U.S. Senator ![]() Founder and managingpartner, Feinberg Rozen ![]() Governor of Wisconsin ![]() President, AFL-CIO |
![]() Mayor of Dallas ![]() U.S. Senator ![]() Partner, Davis & Harman ![]() U.S. Senator ![]() President, American Federation of Teachers |
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