Shar Knutson, First Female Elected to Lead Minnesota AFL-CIO

by Mike Hall, Aug 18, 2009

Shar Knutson

Shar Knutson, president of the St. Paul Regional Labor Federation since 1998, will become the new president of the 300,000 member Minnesota AFL-CIO. Knutson, the union group’s first woman president, was elected yesterday by the state federation’s general board.

She succeeds current President Ray Waldron who will retire Oct. 1, after nine years as president.

Knutson, a member of AFSCME Local 1842, says she will continue the Minnesota AFL-CIO’s “mission of securing social and economic justice for Minnesota’s working people.”

AFL-CIO President John Sweeney says:

For the past 10 years, Shar has provided leadership and vision to state and local central bodies across the country as a leader of the Central Labor Council and State Federation Advisory Committee. I’ve had the opportunity to work with Shar and know that her energy and drive will help lead the State Federation for the benefit of the working women and men of Minnesota.

She has played an active role in the successful campaign to increase labor’s voice in local, state and national elections and says she will focus on

growing political strength of Minnesota’s union members on electing state and federal officials who will put working people first.

Along leading the St. Paul Regional Labor Federation, Knutson is a regional representative advising the Executive Board of the national AFL-CIO. She also serves as president of the St. Paul Labor Studies and Resource Center, a non-profit organization dedicated to raising awareness and promoting community debate about social and economic justice.

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