Bethany Winkels elected Secretary-Treasurer of the Minnesota AFL-CIO

The General Board of the Minnesota AFL-CIO, the state’s federation of more than 1,000 local unions, unanimously elected Executive Director Bethany Winkels to serve as Secretary-Treasurer. Winkels succeeds Brad Lehto who retired earlier last month.

“I am humbled and grateful for the trust the representatives of our state’s union members have given me to continue our shared work to make Minnesota the best state for working people,” Winkels said. “When working people join together in common purpose, we can accomplish great things for one another.”

Winkels, a member of LIUNA Local 563, first joined the Minnesota AFL-CIO in 2016 before becoming Executive Director in 2020. She took a leave of absence in 2018 to work on the campaign of now-Governor Tim Walz. Prior to her time at the AFL-CIO, she organized on behalf of many other campaigns and causes, both in Minnesota and across the country – including working to elect Senator Elizabeth Warren, raising the minimum wage in Minnesota, and passing the Paid Family and Medical Leave program which is set to launch on January 1st of this year. She is a proud trade unionist, the daughter and granddaughter of proud trade unionists, and the mother of future trade unionists and union supporters.

“Bethany has proven herself to be a steadfast and innovative leader during her time in the Labor Movement,” said Minnesota AFL-CIO President Bernie Burnham. “She is the kind of person Labor needs in a leadership role right now and I’m excited to continue working alongside her.”

Following her election, Winkels was sworn in and began her new role immediately.