Metro Philadelphia Labor Power Players

David Gash is the president of the Harrisburg Central Labor Council, an affiliate of the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO located in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The Harrisburg Central Labor Council serves members in Perry, Dauphin, Lebanon, Fulton, Franklin and Cumberland counties. 

Bernie Hall is the newly elected United Steelworkers District 10 director. In this position, Bernie sits on the international union’s executive board and is responsible for 50,000 members and 152 local unions across the state of Pennsylvania. In 2011, Bernie became one of the youngest ever international representatives for the steelworkers in the state. From 2015 to 2020, Hall also served as the union’s Pennsylvania organizing coordinator. Bernie grew up in Western Pennsylvania and is the father of two young daughters Katey 16, and Kassidy 12.

What sector does your union service (healthcare, construction, etc.)?
While we started as just a “steel” union, we have grown to be the biggest union representing the paper, oil, rubber, glass, chemicals, and manufacturing sectors in the country. We also represent members in a variety of other sectors.

What are the benefits that unions (your particular union, if applicable) offer their members?
Dignity and the possibility of family sustaining careers. Our union has built a reputation over decades of fighting for and achieving fair contracts that provide our members dignity at work and certainty for their families at home.

What brought you to organizing and/or the issue of worker advocacy?
I am a fourth generation steelworker. The union is something I’ve known my entire life. I know first hand how the union can lift working families from poverty.

How will Pennsylvania’s labor force evolve in the next five years?
You will see new faces emerge and growth in non-traditional areas. Just this past year, in one of the largest organizing victories in the country, nearly 3500 faculty members at the University of Pittsburgh joined our Union.

What kind of impact does organized labor have on local communities?
A vibrant labor movement is vital to strong communities. Our members purchase the goods and services provided by small businesses. They are also the tax base that supports our schools, fire departments, and police officers.

William T. Hamilton is the Eastern region vice president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. William served as a Medic in the 101st Airborne Rangers in Vietnam. He has been a Teamster member since 1966 at Local 107 in Philadelphia; was appointed organizer/business agent in 1984, and elected president (2000-present). He is also president of both Joint Council #53 (Philadelphia region) and the Pennsylvania Conference of Teamsters since 2007, and international Eastern region vice president since 2008. Finally, he is the national director of the Express Division. William is a strong advocate for unions and preventing right-to-work in Pennsylvania!

What sector does your union service (healthcare, construction, etc.)?
We have members in all sectors of business.

What are the benefits that unions (your particular union, if applicable) offer their members?
Teamsters are 1.3 million members strong, negotiate strong contracts providing guaranteed pensions and healthcare and protect worker’s rights.

What brought you to organizing and/or the issue of worker advocacy?
I had a calling to fight for working people, to get corporations to share their profits with their workers through better wages and benefits.

How will Pennsylvania’s labor force evolve in the next five years?
There’s going to be a fierce battle to prevent anti-labor legislation from being enacted in Pennsylvania and across the country. There is also the hope of growing the membership through attempts at organizing of business giants like Amazon.

What kind of impact does organized labor have on local communities?
Organized labor increases the standards for wages and benefits in communities, helps to set safer working conditions and closes gender and race wage gaps. It provides emergency services to communities in times of hardship.

James Harper, Jr., is the business manager of Laborers’ Local 413. This building trades union was chartered by the Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA) in 1936. Local 413 is committed to unity, safety, education, and community. 

Executive Director David Henderson of AFSCME Council 13 has been a member of the union for over 40 years. He originally joined the union as an employee of the Pennsylvania Department of Welfare in 1979. He was appointed to the position of staff representative for District Council 84 in 1998, and then went on to become the director of AFSCME district council 85 in 2009. He also serves as an international vice president for AFSCME, and is currently part of the advisory board of the Penn State Labor Leadership Institute. 

Karima Howard has 22 years of experience with the Port Authority of Allegheny County Transit as a bus operator and Amalgamated Transit Union member. She has been an organizer for the Stuff the Bus toy drive and the UnitedWay co-chair/union liaison for three years, raising over $300,000. She is ATU Local 85’s first African American female Executive Board officer as recording secretary. Karima is also the ATU Local 85 Black Caucus PGH chapter president, where her purpose is to reassure diversity in the workplace. She also sits on the Executive Board of PA AFL-CIO Allegheny-Fayette county as delegate and reading clerk.

What sector does your union service (healthcare, construction, etc.)?
Public transportation.

What are the benefits that unions (your particular union, if applicable) offer their members?
Protecting the rights of members to work under safe conditions, pay wage protection, comprehensive medical benefits, matched define retirement pension plan.

What brought you to organizing and/or the issue of worker advocacy?
Watching individuals standing as one and creating a movement, which forces a profitable company to give labor workers their just due and a fair and sustainable living wage we can progressively live on, not just a survivable wage!

How will Pennsylvania’s labor force evolve in the next five years?
The evolution of labor in the next five years will be the true definition of diversity and equality for women and people of color in leadership. 

What kind of impact does organized labor have on local communities?
Economically, it strengthens communities. Organized labor creates working communities, promotes home ownership and gives each community a sense of pride and a sense of hope for future generations!

Business Manager of Boilermakers Local 154 John Hughes has been part of the Boilermaker’s since 1977. The union represents over 1,500 members, including trainees and journeymen. John was elected to attend his first convention in 2001, and since then has represented Local 154 at every convention. John was initially elected president of Local 154 in 2005, and was then re-elected in 2008, 2011, and 2014. He became business manager and secretary-treasurer in 2017, and then was re-elected as business manager in 2020. 

Nicole started with the Philadelphia School District in 2001 as a food service worker. Nicole was elected president of Local 634 in 2017 and served two terms. She currently sits on the UNITE HERE Executive Board, International Black Leadership group, BLAC, and the board of PLSE. In 2021 she was awarded the Peggy Browning Award for her leadership. Nicole played a crucial role in UNITE HERE’s 2020 presidential campaign in PA to help elect President Biden before shifting focus to help secure the Georgia Senate elections in 2021 as well.

What sector does your union service (healthcare, construction, etc.)?
Public Sector.

What are the benefits that unions (your particular union, if applicable) offer their members?
Job Security, representation, medical benefits, legal aid.

What brought you to organizing and/or the issue of worker advocacy?
I didn’t like the way the union leadership was dealing with the members and handling the issues they faced. Every member needs to be treated fairly and with respect, and so I worked to embody those goals by organizing for and leading Local 634.

How will Pennsylvania’s labor force evolve in the next five years? 
The labor force will get stronger and stronger as we continue building a movement that helps people see and value their own worth as workers and community members. The worker will see that this movement shows the power is in their numbers.

What kind of impact does organized labor have on local communities?
Organized labor works to provide for the workers that keep our community running. Convincing the employers to see the value of their workers and invest in their well-being will result in the workers having the means to invest in their communities as well.

Sheila Ireland has 25+ years of experience leading transformational change in the non-profit, healthcare, government, and manufacturing fields. Sheila is known for developing programs that improve organizational performance and achieve bottom-line results. She currently serves as the deputy secretary, Workforce Development, at PA Labor and Industry where she oversees PA’s public workforce development system by leveraging 650+ employees statewide and a $270M+ budget focused on growing Pennsylvania’s workforce and increasing access to well-paying jobs.

What brought you to organizing and/or the issue of worker advocacy?
Watching first hand the struggles of people trying to connect to work and organizations struggling to find the talent they need.

How will Pennsylvania’s labor force evolve in the next five years?
I think you will see increased sophistication in the types of work Pennsylvanians will be doing, thanks to the impact of automation, AI and machine learning.

What kind of impact does organized labor have on local communities?
Organized labor is a critical component to ensure training, safety and jobs are available on a level playing field.

Jim Irwin is the president of Lehigh Valley Labor Council as well as a part of the board of directors of United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley. The Lehigh Valley Labor Council is one of the 500 state and local labor councils of the AFL-CIO. It represents the interest of the working people both at the local and the state level.