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Steve Hunter, secretary-treasurer of the Minnesota AFL-CIO since 2001, has retired and will be honored at a celebration Friday, April 22.
A reception with appetizers and cash bar will be held from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Friday at the Radisson Minneapolis/St. Paul North, 2540 North Cleveland Ave., in Roseville.
In August 2001, Hunter succeeded Ray Waldron as secretary-treasurer when Waldron moved into the state labor federation’s top position. Hunter continued to serve as secretary-treasurer under Shar Knutson and, most recently, Bill McCarthy.
Hunter joined AFSCME, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, in 1975 when, bachelor’s degree in hand from the University of Minnesota, he started working as a graphic designer for the City of Minneapolis.
In the years that followed, he served in a number of elected positions within AFSCME and elsewhere in organized labor. He was president of Minneapolis Employees Local 9, president of AFSCME Council 14, an executive board member of the Minneapolis Central Labor Union Council, a Minnesota AFL-CIO vice-president and AFSCME’s full-time political director in the state.
Hunter also served in a number of other roles, including regent of the University of Minnesota and officer of the Minnesota Fair Trade Coalition. He was a longtime member of the Advisory Committee of the University of Minnesota Labor Education Service, which publishes Workday Minnesota.
Retirement will allow Hunter more time with his family and to pursue one of his passions – watching Chicago Cubs baseball.