Wegmann Elected to Lead the Southeast Minnesota Area Labor Council
(Rochester, MN) The Southeast Minnesota Area Labor Council Executive Board unanimously elected Pommella Wegmann to serve as the council’s president at its quarterly meeting on Wednesday. The Southeast Minnesota Area Labor Council, AFL-CIO represents over 40,000 union members in southern Minnesota. The council’s mission is to improve the lives for working families by bringing economic justice to the workplace and social justice to our state and nation.
Wegmann, a Zumbrota resident and member of the Communication Workers of America, is currently the Minnesota AFL-CIO Field Director overseeing grassroots field programs for electoral, legislative, and issue advocacy campaigns. Wegmann previously managed political and legislative programs with the Iron Workers International union office in Washington, DC and across the Midwest.
“Minnesotans value hard work and know our strength comes from the work we do and values we share. Whether you build roads and bridges, care for patients, teach the next generation, keep our government and social programs running, maintain our energy systems, manufacture goods, or provide hospitality services – there is dignity in all work,” Wegmann said. “The Labor Movement leads the way to ensure all who are able to work can access safe, family-supporting jobs as well as have time to be with and care for their loved ones. I am honored to have earned the faith and trust of union members in Southern Minnesota and am eager to take on this role.”
Wegmann succeeds Russell Hess who has served as the council’s president since 2014.
“Pommella has great knowledge of Minnesota’s political and economic landscapes, and she brings so much passion to the work she does,” Hess said. “Since I’ve known her, she has been a trusted resource for the labor council and unions around the state. I know she will work hard to grow the labor movement and continue lifting all working families up.”
Wegmann, 28, is the youngest labor council president in the nation. She grew up in Bellevue, Iowa and is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Platteville.
The Southeast Minnesota Area Labor Council is one of 500 state and local labor councils in the United States. They represent union members throughout Blue Earth, Dodge, Faribault, Fillmore, Freeborn, Goodhue, Houston, LeSueur, Mower, Nicollet, Olmsted, Rice, Steele, Wabasha, Waseca, and Winona counties.
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