The AFL-CIO Executive Council mourns the passing of our sister and friend, Lenore Miller, president emeritus of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU-UFCW).
Miller’s journey in the labor movement began in 1958, when she joined RWDSU as a secretary, launching what would become a trailblazing career in organized labor. She would go on to hold a number of leadership positions for the union, including executive assistant to the president, international vice president and international secretary-treasurer.
In 1986, she made history as the first woman elected international president of RWDSU and first woman elected to lead an international labor union affiliated with the AFL-CIO. She made labor history again in 1987 when she was elected to the Executive Council, becoming the first woman union president to serve as a vice president of the federation.
Known as a savvy and eloquent advocate for working families throughout the 12 years she led RWDSU, Miller’s dedication to organizing workers in lower-paying jobs made a profound and lasting difference in the lives of those workers and their families.
She also championed civil rights and workplace safety, chairing the AFL-CIO’s Civil Rights Committee and its Safety and Occupational Health Committee. She served as vice chair of the President’s Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities and president of the Jewish Labor Committee.
Her leadership extended beyond the United States through her roles as an officer with international labor organizations. In 1994, she led the AFL-CIO’s delegation of observers to the first free elections in South Africa, where she witnessed the end of apartheid.
Lenore Miller dedicated more than four decades to advancing workers’ rights and breaking barriers for women in the labor movement. Her legacy as a trailblazer, mentor and fierce advocate for working people will continue to inspire generations of union members and will endure in the labor movement she helped transform.