An interview with Bernard Brommer
Leading Minnesota labor through a decade of struggle
Bernard Brommer, the articulate advocate of working families who has led the Minnesota AFL-CIO for over 10 years, retires as president of the state labor federation, effective Aug. 1. Brommer, 61, who began his working life in 1958 as an hourly laborer with the Minnesota Department of Highways, has been a union member for 43 years. He was first elected president in 1990 and won re-election to a third term in 1999. He is the only person who has been elected to three Minnesota AFL-CIO executive offices, having served as secretary-treasurer from 1985 to 1990, and as executive vice-president (an office since abolished), from 1979 to 1985.
In a recent interview, Brommer reflected on his experiences in the labor movement and shared his thoughts on issues facing working families.
Q. Why did you join a union?
A. I didn't come from a union family. My parents and relatives were small business owners and farmers. M.J. Peterson, the superintendent of schools in Ellsworth, Minnesota, where I grew up, knew I wouldn't be going to college. He encouraged me to apply for a civil service job. The wages weren't the best, he said, but civil service provided good job security. I took his advice and sought work with the state highway department in Windom. Soon after I was hired, I requested a copy of the civil service rules. The Resident Engineer said those rules weren't available for inspection. So when co-workers approached me about joining the union, I wasn't a hard sell at all. I realized the importance of collective action. Also the Windom district was, in effect, a closed shop. Everybody belonged to the union ? that was long before we had a public employee collective bargaining law in Minnesota.
Q. Describe some of the challenges you've faced in your years as a labor leader.
A. Establishing the legitimacy of collective bargaining for public employees. The whole concept was foreign to many managers and supervisors ? even to some workers. It was a cultural thing; the civil service system had been in place in Minnesota since the late '30s and people were used to it. So we had to turn around an entire system where the employer made the rules, and interpreted and applied them. The effort culminated in the passage of the Public Employee Labor Relations Act (PELRA) in 1971. There was a lot of pressure building up for that ? the Minneapolis teachers' strike, for instance, in 1970. And members and officers of many unions helped make it happen, led by Dave Roe and the Minnesota AFL-CIO.
As a state federation officer, I faced the challenge of learning to work not just with and for public sector workers, but with workers in the private sector represented by a wide variety of unions other than my own. I've enjoyed the challenge of learning about other communities: business, religion, education, the non-profit sector. Your view of issues expands significantly when you look at them from the perspective of more than one organization.
Q. What have you been trying to accomplish as Minnesota AFL-CIO president?
A. To build a strong organization, particularly by increasing affiliation and the active involvement of affiliates in the mission of the AFL-CIO. My objective was to provide a stable organization that could be relied on to address issues of the day, and to avoid the extremes. To the extent that the Minnesota AFL-CIO is effective and affiliates are able to address their issues through the federation, the organization builds itself.
Q. What might you have done differently, if you had the chance to do it again?
A. Take a more critical look at the Minnesota AFL-CIO's system of candidate screening and endorsement. I'm not sure it continues to fulfill the needs of the labor movement. I'm pleased the executive council has decided to hold a retreat in the fall to examine and discuss this. The autonomy of affiliates must be respected in any approach to political elections and candidates, but there needs to be some way labor can consolidate in key elections. Fragmentation hurts working families.
Q. What have you learned about the labor movement?
A. It's much more complex than it appears on the surface ? so many people, so many occupations and unions. And their interests don't always coincide. There are all kinds of pressures. To me, the amazing thing is not that the labor movement has scars and blemishes, internal conflicts and challenges, but that it has survived at all, and achieved any measure of success. I've seen our movement involved in some very difficult struggles, but every time I've seen it come out stronger than before.
Q. What have you learned about employers?
A. Employers understand better than some workers that a union levels the playing field and provides workers a measure of dignity and security that many employers would prefer they not have. Employers who get beyond resenting this realize the advantages they derive from workers having a union, such as a more stable, experienced and skilled workforce, higher quality and productivity, safer workplaces, workers who feel secure enough to suggest innovations, a straightforward process for negotiating change and organized allies in the community.
Q. What have you learned about politics and government?
A. There are very many men and women in government and politics who are honest, hardworking people of integrity. But, when faced with the right combination of pressures and circumstances, even the best friends and most trusted political allies of labor can betray workers and their families. I know this from experience. Fortunately, it hasn't happened very often, but even once is too often.
Contrary to the popular notion that our government is an impediment to community goals and economic fairness (propagated by those who see government as their own private plaything), workers cannot achieve a measure of fairness and economic justice without government on their side. That's why there's an inextricable connection between labor's involvement in politics and the welfare of working families.
Capitalism is an economic system run by others. 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. If our detractors succeed in destroying unions, something will take our place that they may like even less.
Q. What have you learned about leadership?
A. My definition of leadership in the labor movement is empowering union members, creating opportunities where each one's abilities can be developed and enhanced to accomplish the goals of the organization that the members themselves have determined. Leadership is also recognizing opportunities to strengthen the organization.
Q. What have you learned about making change?
A. It's difficult. Even in the best of circumstances, we human beings don't like change. But it will come, regardless. One strength of the labor movement is that it's a pretty restless institution. Unions have been in more struggles for change than any business or corporation that I've run across. I'm always amused by claims that labor is resistant to change. The labor movement was born of the desire for change to make a better life.
Q. What have you liked most and least about your work as Minnesota AFL-CIO President?
A. They are the same: the work with government and politics has provided significant triumphs, but at times it has left a bad taste in my mouth. Working with the leaders of federation affiliates has also been immeasurably rewarding. I've had the opportunity to learn so much from so many people.
Q. Who are some of the people you have learned from?
A. If I were to mention people by name, I would certainly forget many. There are numerous people who have helped me and been an inspiration. First and foremost are the brothers and sisters in the labor movement past and present. Beyond them, I have had many teachers in education, government, agriculture, religion - yes, even in the business community. The list is virtually endless, and I am grateful to them all. I must mention the Labor Education Service of the University of Minnesota. LES played a significant role in my development and education. I can't begin to pay the debt. They educated me; they trained me. I attended many classes in the labor temples in Duluth and Cloquet; spent a lot of Saturdays going to school. It wasn't a theoretical education. It was very practical. I met union leaders there - so many remarkable people - and learned from their experience.
Q. You have a reputation for giving opponents advance notice before you act or speak against them. Why do you do that?
A. Every human being deserves respect. Somebody told me a long time ago that you've got to be careful about putting people in a corner where the only way out is to go over you. That's particularly important in the labor movement. Our goal is to find out not who is right or who is wrong, but what is right and wrong.
Q. You also are known as a sharp dresser. Isn't that out of character for a representative of working people?
A. I don't think so. Like it or not, people make judgments based on appearance. When I'm representing others I feel it's important to project an image of confidence. Even as a laborer, I had to dress in khaki trousers and shirt. As representatives of the state, we were expected to project a capable, responsible image to the traveling public.
Q. How do you respond to criticism that you have been slow to reach decisions and reluctant to press for early executive council action on endorsements in key elections?
A. If the Minnesota AFL-CIO were a one-dimensional organization, it would be easier to make decisions quickly. But, in a statewide federation, you don't have the luxury of responding just to the loudest voices. There are many viewpoints, many dimensions, many factors to be weighed ? particularly in the political and legislative process. The easiest thing would be to jump to a decision, react to the most immediate stimulus and let it go.
Only the foolhardy would suggest that decisions can be made quickly when it comes to political endorsements. When all is said and done, the best decision-making process is inclusive. It must involve others. Trying to steer through that course is not an easy task.
Q. What will you miss most when you leave office?
A. The people, the staff. Not in the sense that life doesn't go on without them, but I've worked so long with many of them. They are an important part of who I am. I won't miss the day-to-day details, hassles and chores, however.
Q. What are your dreams for working people and the labor movement in Minnesota?
A. That all workers who desire to form or join a union will have that right and that it will be protected. And that they will be able to engage in good-faith collective bargaining with employers and be recognized as equals and important contributors to the economy ? not just as costs of production or a commodity. I dream also of safe workplaces, decent health care and pensions. I dream of a government that cracks down on labor law violators, and is really a watchdog against the abuse and exploitation that inevitably result when the relationship between workers and employers is unequal.
Q. Your fears?
A. I fear the system of capitalism and its excesses. The increased power and influence that corporations wield over our daily lives and our government. The seemingly growing inability of government to protect the rights of workers, particularly in a global economy and trading system that is concentrating wealth and power in fewer and fewer hands. The inability of anybody or any institution to stop this ? no matter how powerful the labor movement might be.
Q. Any other thoughts on your working life thusfar?
A. As unlikely as it may seem that an hourly laborer who started working right out of high school would end up president of the Minnesota AFL-CIO, looking back, I realize that I was simply a vessel carried along by the movement of public employees to become involved with the state federation. Beginning in the late '60s and early '70s, AFSCME made a concerted effort to send delegates to AFL-CIO local central bodies and state federation conventions and to participate in AFL-CIO work and activities. It was my good fortune to be in the right place at the right time.
Q. What's next for you?
A. A little time to think about the future, catch up on some reading and work at home (the job jar is pretty full). My wife Phyllis and I plan to travel some when the spirit moves us; and I'll enjoy a good round of golf, and spend more time with family ? especially the grandchildren. I'm also looking forward to being involved with the Labor Education Service and the Industrial Relations Center at the University of Minnesota, doing some teaching. A similar opportunity at the University of St. Thomas is a possibility. The 2002 election is on the horizon and I'll be involved. I intend to exercise my membership in the AFL-CIO state retiree council. I see its work as essential to the overall mission of the labor movement.
Q. Any parting words?
A. I take great comfort in the knowledge that I'm not saying, "Goodbye," but just, "So long." I look upon retirement as a graduation of sorts, a new beginning, the start of new opportunities to learn and do.
I extend my humble thanks and gratitude to the people of the labor movement for all the help and support they've given me over these many years and for their enrichment of my working life. I have but one request: That we care for and keep on building and organizing the labor movement and continue to recognize our responsibilities to our communities and the human family.