Cecil Roberts

Cecil Edward Roberts, Jr., a sixth-generation coal miner and one of the labor movement’s most stirring and sought-after orators, became President of the United Mine Workers (UMWA) of America on October 22, 1995, having served as Vice President of the union since December 1982. Roberts succeeded Richard L. Trumka, who was elected Secretary-Treasurer of the AFL-CIO.

A decorated veteran of the Vietnam War, Roberts is passionate about veterans affairs. After military service in Vietnam and after college, Roberts worked for six years at Carbon Fuels’ No. 31 mine in Winifred, West Virginia, where he served as a local union officer. In 1977 he was elected Vice President of UMWA District 17 by a 2-to-1 margin. In May 1981, he was re-elected without opposition.

On November 9, 1982, Roberts was elected Vice President of the UMWA International Union. In 1989, he was the on-the-scene leader, often referred to as field general, and day-to-day negotiator in the UMWA’s militant and ultimately successful 10-month strike against the Pittston Coal Co., which had cut off health benefits to its retirees and was trying to walk away from its obligations to the UMWA Health and Retirement Funds. For his role in that successful strike, Roberts received the Rainbow Coalition’s Martin Luther King Award as well as awards from Citizen Action and the Midwest Academy.

In October 1995, Roberts assumed the UMWA Presidency. He’s been reelected to the position for decades, now serving his seventh full term.

Roberts graduated from West Virginia Technical College in 1987 and received an honorary Doctorate in Humanities from the West Virginia University of Technology in 1997.