National Native American Heritage Month Profiles: Alexander “Alex” Osif

Throughout National Native American Heritage Month, the AFL-CIO will be profiling leaders and activists to spotlight the diverse contributions Native Americans have made to the labor movement and toward expanding the rights of working people. Today’s profile features Alexander “Alex” Osif of the Mine Workers (UMWA).

Alex Osif is of Kin Yaa’áanii (The Towering House) clan of the Navajo tribe. He also works as a case manager in the Black Lung Clinics Program at Canyonlands Healthcare in Chilchinbeto, Arizona, on the Navajo Nation. Osif represents his union brothers and sisters and is a tremendous advocate for those with black lung disease. He works with the National Black Lung Association and brings that program to the Southwest for his retirees, his communities, the Navajo Nation and beyond into the surrounding mining communities.