The Missouri AFL-CIO has elected a new President and Secretary-Treasurer

The Missouri AFL-CIO has elected a new President and Secretary-Treasurer

The Missouri AFL-CIO’s Executive Board has elected Jake Hummel and Merri Berry to serve as President and Secretary-Treasurer.

Jefferson City, MO - The Missouri AFL-CIO, the state's leading voice for working families, is proud to announce the election of Jake Hummel as the next President of the Missouri AFL-CIO and Merri Berry as the organization’s next Secretary-Treasurer.

Hummel and Berry were elected Tuesday by a unanimous vote of the Missouri AFL-CIO’s executive board to replace out-going President Mike Louis who has announced he will be retiring on June 30, 2020.

Their election drew praise from across the state. “Hummel and Berry will represent all working men and women with class and integrity,” praised St. Louis Labor Council President Pat White.

“Together Jake and Merri are ready to lead labor into an exciting new chapter. We have a lot of challenges in Missouri, but Hummel and Berry are up to the task. I am confident that with their leadership, the Missouri AFL-CIO will continue to be a strong voice for working families in our state,” stated Kansas City Labor Council President Pat Dujakovich.

Hummel and Berry along with Missouri AFL-CIO Vice-President Reggie Thomas of Laborers’ International Union of North America (LiUNA) Local 264, who is continuing his four-year elected term, will serve as the three elected officers of the Missouri AFL-CIO.  

Hummel, current Secretary-Treasurer of the Missouri AFL-CIO, is an electrician with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local One. He previously served as the President of the St. Louis City Labor Club, a Missouri State Senator, and as the Democratic Floor Leader in the Missouri House of Representatives.

Berry, current Political Director of the Missouri AFL-CIO, is the first woman elected as a state-level officer in the organization’s history. Berry, a 40-year member of United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 655, previously served as the Organizing and Political Director of UFCW Local 655.

President Mike Louis will be retiring June 30, 2020, after leading the Missouri AFL-CIO since 2014. A union machinist with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District 9, President Louis had previously served as the Missouri AFL-CIO’s Secretary-Treasurer. During his tenure as President, the Missouri AFL-CIO led the effort to defeat “right-to-work.” Proposition A (“right-to-work”) was defeated with over 67% of the vote in 2018. Under President Louis’ tenure membership grew by 46,000 members in 2019, bucking national trends and growing the number of labor members to the highest it has been in 15 years.

“President Louis has been a true advocate for Missouri labor. While he’s earned his retirement, he will be greatly missed,” Hummel stated.