Trumka’s Message to LGBT Teens: It Gets Better | 
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The union movement has long been in the forefront of the fight against discrimination in the workplace and throughout society. Spurred by the reports of bullying and suicides of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual (LGBT) students in schools, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka joinedPresident Obama, Secretary of StateHillary Rodham Clinton and other leaders who are filming videos for the It Gets Better campaign.
Begun by columnist Dan Savage, the It Gets Better campaign supports and encourages LGBT teens to “hang in there” because they are not alone. It lets them know others are working to ensure that things will get better for them.
In his video (above), Trumka, who comes from an East European immigrant family, relates how hard it was growing up in the coal mine country of southwest Pennsylvania. When he was kid, he says, there were ugly names for everyone. His older relatives spoke with thick accents and were routinely given the hardest and most dangerous work in the mines. Their