Next AFL-CIO president played a key role in Cape Breton labor history

Remember this guy? In 1981 and 1984, United Mine Workers of America president Richard Trumka spent weeks in Cape Breton, staving off two certification votes by the rival Canadian Mineworkers Union (CMU), a nationalist upstart opposed to affiliation with US parent unions. Angry Cape Breton miners turned to the CMU after the UMWA failed to provide strike benefits during a 13-week walkout in 1981. The new union twice signed up enough members to force certification votes, but Trumka outmaneuvered them, adroitly enlisting retired coal miners, including the colorful (if not buffoonish) Jake Campbell, to help turn back the challenges. For the last...