Saint Louis, Mo. — Rep. Jacob Hummel, a St. Louis Democrat and the Missouri House Minority Leader, was elected to the post of Secretary-Treasurer of the Missouri AFL-CIO today following the election of his predecessor, Mike Louis, to the post of president.
Monday morning delegates of the Missouri AFL-CIO unanimously elected the pair at their convention in St. Louis. Louis is the longtime Secretary-Treasurer and has been the de facto leader of Missouri’s largest labor union for several months following former President Hugh McVey’s retirement announcement.
“At a time when Missouri’s working families and union members are under attack by ALEC’s corporate greed agenda, it is an honor and a privilege to be elected to to lead the Missouri Labor Movement,” Louis wrote in a statement. “Words cannot describe the appreciation I feel to be bestowed with the obligation to move the working family agenda forward during these trying times.”
Louis played a critical role in labor’s influence in Jefferson City during the legislative session, briefly breathing easy when House ‘Right-to-Work’ and Senate ‘Paycheck Protection’ measures died largely in the machinery of the legislature.
“Continuing to build relationships on both sides of the aisle in Jefferson City with the people who will help Missouri prosper while protecting and allowing all of Missouri’s working families to prosper as well will remain the top priority of the Missouri AFL-CIO.”
Hummel has served as the House Minority Leader since 2012 and must be once again elected to the post by his caucus following the November general election. No House Democrats have publicly declared they will challenge Hummel for the post, and whether Hummel’s new place on a labor union’s payroll will influence his re-election as leader remains unclear.
Hummel was Louis’ first choice as a predecessor, and Hummel’s deep labor roots have established him as one of the loudest pro-labor voices in Missouri’s House.
Collin Reischman was the Managing Editor for The Missouri Times, and a graduate of Webster University with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism.