Herman Winter (1885 – January 28, 1959) was an American labor union leader. Born in

Helena, Montana Helena (; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Montana and the county seat, seat of Lewis and Clark County, Montana, Lewis and Clark County. Helena was founded as a gold camp during the Montana gold ...

, Winter moved to

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City, Missouri, abbreviated KC or KCMO, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by List of cities in Missouri, population and area. The city lies within Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson, Clay County, Missouri, Clay, and Pl ...

at an early age. He became a baker, and joined the Bakery and Confectionery Workers International Union of America. In 1903, he was elected as secretary-treasurer of his union local, then in 1908, he was elected as business agent and chair of the Kansas City Central Labor Union. In 1911, Winter was elected as vice-president of the international union, becoming secretary-treasurer in 1936, and president in 1943. In 1948, he was additionally elected as a vice-president of the

American Federation of Labor The American Federation of Labor (A.F. of L.) was a national federation of labor unions in the United States that continues today as the AFL-CIO. It was founded in Columbus, Ohio, in 1886 by an alliance of craft unions eager to provide mutual ...

(AFL). He retired from his posts with the Bakery Workers in 1950, but retained his AFL post, and when in 1955 it merged into the

AFL-CIO The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) is a national trade union center that is the largest federation of unions in the United States. It is made up of 61 national and international unions, together r ...

, he was described as "regarded as a kind of father-confessor by those now in the leadership". In 1957, the Bakery Workers union split over allegations of corruption by its president, James G. Cross. Winter argued that the allegations should be investigated, but had not been correctly raised with the union executive or conference. However, Curtis Sims counterclaimed that Winter had advised him not to raise the allegations, as he believed that he could not win over a majority of the executive. The union was expelled from the AFL, and Winter thereby lost his vice-president post. He died early in 1959.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Winter, Herman 1885 births 1959 deaths American trade union leaders People from Helena, Montana Trade unionists from Montana Vice presidents of the American Federation of Labor Vice presidents of the AFL-CIO