ND AFL-CIO Picks NDU Member as New President

It’s now been over a decade since the merger that created North Dakota United in 2013, which was itself an enormous “historic first.” When we first joined together the members of the North Dakota Education Association and Public Employee Association, we also brought thousands of new members under the umbrella of the North Dakota AFL-CIO, the state’s federation of labor unions.

NDU members account for roughly half of the North Dakota AFL-CIO, and in 2025, another first occurred in the history of organized labor. On June 6 at the annual AFL-CIO Convention in Bismarck, a member of ND United was, for the first time in history, elected as president of our state’s “union of unions.”

Ashley Gaschk, a middle school teacher in Mandan, had been active for years as a member of her local, the Mandan Education Association, and on the state level within ND United. At the same time, she had been dedicating more of her time and energy toward advocacy within the larger labor movement through the state AFL-CIO and its regional labor council, the Missouri Slope Labor Council. And so, when the opportunity arose for someone new to step into the role of president and secretary-treasurer for ND AFL-CIO, she answered the call.

“It is a big job, and I'm excited to take it on,” Gaschk said. “I'm eager to learn a whole lot, very quickly, but it seems that we have an amazing labor movement that is very dedicated and passionate and definitely willing to work together and to help me as I transition into this new role.”

One of those leaders in the labor movement who is helping Gaschk step into the role is the president of the Missouri Slope Labor Council, and field consultant for ND United, Dana Hillius. When Landis Larson, the previous president of the ND AFL-CIO, had let it be known that he wouldn’t seek another term, Hillius asked Ganschk if she might be interested in running for the office.

“She's the type of leader who just keeps showing up, no matter what,” Hillius said. “I have long admired her tenacity, and she’s the first person I asked when we knew there would be a vacancy. She was surprised that she was asked, but immediately showed interest.”

Not only is Gaschk the first member of ND United to become president of our state’s AFL-CIO since NDU joined the federation in 2013, she is also the first teacher and the first woman to hold the office. In Hillius’ view, Gaschk is the right leader for this moment in history.

“It’s time,” he said, “and it’s not as big of a change as it may have been 20 or 30 years ago. But she’s still walking into, say, the North Dakota trades, which is predominantly male. When she went to the North Dakota Trades Convention, she was the only female in the room. I think bridging that gap between workers is a real opportunity.”

Transitioning from a career as a classroom teacher into the top elected position of the state’s federation of labor unions may be daunting, but Gaschk said she is mostly just excited about new possibilities and opportunities. “I am looking forward to learning more about different parts of North Dakota,” Gaschk said. “I was born and raised in Bismarck, (and) I've been working in Mandan for the last eight years. I'm excited to travel to other parts of the state and learn about the different industries and, kind of, hidden gems all over North Dakota. And to meet the workers who are providing services and building North Dakota and maintaining what we already have here.”

Looking a little further down the road, she said she is also excited about speaking up for unions and working families at the state Capitol. “I'm looking forward to another legislative session,” she said, “where we can all work together with people across the labor movement, but also other interested, dedicated groups, to advocate for what's good for working people and what's good for our state.”

From being a young person, herself, and having worked with middle school-aged students in the classroom, Gaschk feels that our next generation of workers in the state are showing higher levels of interest in both joining established unions and starting new unions in fields where they haven’t previously existed.

“I'm not very surprised that there's a new interest in the labor movement,” Gaschk said. “Having been working with middle schoolers for the last several years, like, they're really paying attention. They are pretty sensitive to injustice, and they're curious about why things are set up the way they are. And when things don't seem to make sense, they question, why are we still doing things this way?”

Gaschk is only a few months into the job, but she’s already started to apply the lessons in organizing she learned from being an educator and union member with NDU. “I think it’s really exciting to have a teacher at the head of a labor organization,” she said. “We need to do more organizing across all industries, but I think that there’s a lot of passion and dedication and organizational skills that could be tapped amongst our educators and state workers.”

Under Gaschk’s leadership, the ND AFL-CIO organized two “Celebration of Labor” events, in Fargo and Bismarck, around Labor Day. Large crowds showed up at both, to break bread together, listen to speakers from various unions and labor groups, and discover commonalities we all share. The attendance and energy she felt at both events gave Gaschk hope for the future.

“Young people growing up today are more aware of the disparities in our society,” she said. “If you are coming into the workforce and you get the message, join with us and we can make our workplace better and we can make our futures better.”