Bernard Brommer, who served for more than two decades as an executive officer of the state’s largest labor federation, is being remembered as a thoughtful, effective leader whose activism continued after retirement.

Brommer, 75, died Sunday after a brief battle with cancer.

Funeral Mass will be at 10 a.m. Friday, March 11, at Guardian Angels Catholic Church, 8260 4th St. N., Oakdale. Visitation is scheduled from 4 to 8 p.m. Thursday, March 10, at O’Halloran & Murphy, 8700 Valley Creek Road, Woodbury, and one hour prior to the service at the church on Friday. In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred to Second Harvest Heartland and Guardian Angels Catholic Church.

Brommer retired in August 2001 as president of the Minnesota AFL-CIO, the federation representing most Minnesota unions, after a career that spanned numerous changes for working people.

Raised in the small town of Ellsworth in southwestern Minnesota, his activism began when he went to work for the state highway department as an hourly laborer in 1958, a time when public employees in Minnesota had no collective bargaining rights.

In an interview with the labor press upon his retirement, Brommer remembered signing up to join a union shortly after starting his first job, after a supervisor refused to share a copy of the civil service rules. He eventually became a member of AFSCME Local 695, and rose through the ranks to become executive director of AFSCME Council 6 (now Council 5), representing thousands of government workers across the state.

In 1979, Brommer was elected executive vice president of the Minnesota AFL-CIO. Six years later, he was elected secretary-treasurer. In 1990, he was chosen for the federation’s top office – president – becoming the first person to hold three different executive offices with the state federation. He also was the first representative of a public employee union to head the organization.

In that regard, he personified the changes taking place within the labor movement. Public employee unions, who won collective bargaining rights in the Minnesota Legislature in the early 1970s, were growing in number and strength, while traditional unions – particularly those in manufacturing – faced decline under the onslaught of outsourcing and unfair trade.

As president, he created the first full-time organizing position at the Minnesota AFL-CIO. “He recognized that our movement’s future rests with extending the benefits of union membership to more working people,” said Bill McCarthy, current Minnesota AFL-CIO president.

During Brommer’s tenure, the treatment of workers in the global economy moved to the forefront. The AFL-CIO became an active participant in the Minnesota Fair Trade Coalition – a role it still has today. Brommer led a delegation of union members from the state to the historic protests against the World Trade Organization in Seattle in 1999.

Meticulous in a suit and tie, he presented a different image from the stereotype of a union leader. But he was feisty beneath the cool demeanor.

His tenacity – and attention to detail – were critical in the long-running struggle to protect the state’s workers’ compensation system. Under Brommer’s leadership, the federation and its affiliates battled numerous efforts by legislators to slash benefits for those killed and injured on the job.

Ron Cohen, a former research director at the state labor federation, said Brommer’s approach to leadership was measured, adding that “careful preparation” was chief among Brommer’s strengths.


“As secretary-treasurer and eventually president of the 400,000-member state labor federation, Bernie prudently expected loose ends to be tied up before an action was undertaken or a policy position released,” Cohen said.

While his style differed from his predecessors as president – David Roe and Danny Gustafson – both leaders in Building Trades unions – Brommer was an effective leader able to take on the challenges of his time, they said in remarks at his retirement.

Brommer credited education – particularly collective bargaining training he received from the University of Minnesota Labor Education Service – for preparing him for leadership. He was a strong supporter of LES and, in 2000, spearheaded the effort to launch the Workday Minnesota website as a voice for working people and their organizations.

Brommer remained active in the labor movement after his retirement, appearing at conventions and other public events and volunteering with retiree groups and others.

Most recently, he provided insights from his experience for Workday’s series on the large and growing problem of wage theft.

Brommer’s faith in collective bargaining never wavered.

“Capitalism is an economic system run by others,” he said in the 2001 interview. “Unions and government are instruments that workers can use to counter corporate power and change the system. The alternative is anarchy. Really what I'm saying is that free trade unions are essential to democracy.”

Union and elected officials, including Governor Mark Dayton and Lieutenant Governor Tina Smith, issued statements mourning his passing.

“Bernie Brommer was a thoughtful and effective advocate for working Minnesotans, be it at the Capitol or on the picket line,” said McCarthy.

Brommer is survived by his wife of 55 years, Phyllis; sons Brad and Brent; daughters Darcy and Denise; and numerous grandchildren and other family members.

Thanks to Union Advocate editor Michael Moore for his contributions to this article.

More on Bernard Brommer

2001 interview with Bernard Brommer
Chronology of his career
Remarks by business, labor and elected officials at his retirement