Bernard Brommer, former president of the Minnesota AFL-CIO, is dead at age 75

Bernard "Bernie" Brommer, a well-known union leader for three decades and president of the Minnesota AFL-CIO during the 1990s, was a passionate and thoughtful voice for workers, said friends and colleagues.

Brommer was a familiar face and voice in union matters until he retired in 2001, said Bill Moore, who worked with him for many years.

"He was a working man who never forgot where he came from," Moore said. "His work and family were his core."

Brommer died of cancer on Sunday at 75.

He was born in Rock Rapids, Iowa, and grew up in Ellsworth, Minn., where he graduated from high school.

He worked as a laborer for the Minnesota highway department for a decade, including construction on Interstate 90 and other roads in the southern part of the state. He met Phyllis Manning, an elementary school teacher in Ellsworth, and they married in 1960.

Darcy Brommer, one of his daughters, said that Bernie, as everyone called him, had a way of connecting with people and making them feel important and recognized.

"He often spoke with us kids about what drew him into his work with the labor movement," she said. "It was a real strong sense of identity with working people."

Brommer's background in a small rural town where people banded together was a huge influence in his life, she said, and the union represented the same sense of coming together for the common good.

"He was also troubled to see our economic system moving in a direction that left so many working men and women behind," she said. Her father continued talking about that even during his final days in the hospital.

Brommer joined the staff of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees in 1970 and eventually became executive director of AFSCME Council 6. He became executive vice president of the Minnesota AFL-CIO in 1979, secretary-treasurer in 1985 and president in 1990.

"Bernie Brommer was a thoughtful and effective advocate for working Minnesotans, be it at the Capitol or on the picket line," current Minnesota AFL-CIO President Bill McCarthy said in a statement.

The state AFL-CIO is a federation of diverse unions that during the late 1990s represented a total of about 400,000 workers. Its affiliate unions now represent more than 300,000 members.

McCarthy said that Brommer created the first full-time organizing position at the state AFL-CIO because he recognized that the movement's future rested with extending the benefits of union membership to more working people.

"He filled a big space in a lot of lives," said Darcy Brommer.

Brommer was serious, shrewd and always prepared, said Moore, who is now president of the AFL-CIO State Retiree Council.

Brommer schooled himself on all issues important to workers, Moore said, and became an expert on workers' compensation, an arcane and complicated system of tremendous importance for workers.

Brommer was a tall man who had a presence, but he wasn't boisterous, Moore said. "When he thought it was appropriate to speak, he would have something to say," he said. "You wanted to listen because it was thoughtful and not off the cuff."

Brommer also gained wide respect because of the way he treated others, Moore said. "He was the kind of guy who'll shake hands with anybody and talk to them and respect them," he said. "Republican or Democrat, whether they agreed or disagreed, he wasn't afraid to look them in the eye."

Shar Knutson, president of the Minnesota AFL-CIO from 2009 to 2015, said that Brommer had his beginnings in AFSCME but worked for all of the unions.

"He was a very strong leader and he was articulate with a memory like you wouldn't believe," she said. "He was able to talk about so many issues in great depth."

In addition to his knowledge about unions and his passion for working people, Brommer enjoyed golfing, hunting and listening to country music, his daughter said, and he was a "hands-on grandpa" since retirement.

Survivors include Phyllis, his wife of 55 years; six siblings; another daughter, Denise of Oakdale; sons Brad of Omaha, Neb., and Brent of Inver Grove Heights; and four grandchildren.

A funeral mass will be held at 10 a.m. Friday at Guardian Angels Catholic Church, 8260 4th St. N., Oakdale, with visitation one hour before the service.

Tom Meersman • 612-673-7388