Introducing Three New Hires at Local 153

Local 153 is pleased to announce the hiring of two new organizers and a new field staff member. Although relatively young in age, all three have extensive experience working with unions and the trio arrives with strong credentials. We are happy to welcome  Melinda Fiedler and Scott Williams as organizers and David Hamer-Hodges as a new member of our field staff.

Melinda Fiedler knows how to organize! Even before college she was a regional organizer for United Students Against Sweatshops and, later, she served as an intern at the Sunlight Foundation, College for Melinda was American University in Washington, DC, followed by additional study at the National Labor College. Melinda interned with the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) before becoming an organizer for SEIU (the international union) and then SEIU 1199. Following her successful work at SEIU, Melinda became lead organizer for The Newspaper Guild, a division of the Communications Workers of America CWA). Later, she became a Business Representative for the American Guild of Musical Artists and then an organizer with DC Jobs with Justice.

Scott Williams is the other organizer that has come on board at Local 153. Scott holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of North Carolina and a Masters Degree in Education from the University of Pennsylvania. He has extensive experience in organized labor, beginning when he was a student organizer for the United Electrical Workers, Local 150. Scott was a high school social studies teacher and was a proud member of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), Local 3, where he led contract organizing. He worked in organizing for UNITE HERE, Local 274 in Philadelphia and then the Phildelphia Joint Board of Workers United. He was an organizer and communications director for Action for Community and, most recently, the program manager for the Philadelphia Unemployment Project.

David Hamer-Hodges is our union’s new field staff member, coming on board with more than a decade of experience in the labor field. He was a senior staff representative for Communications Workers of America, Local 1032, in New Jersey, representing 2,000 state and municipal government workers in multiple workplaces with 30 different job titles. While with Local 1032, David was lead negotiator on 10 separate contracts. Earlier, David worked as a communications aide for 32BJ, SEIU, in New York as a lead contract and field organizer for SEIU’s Committee of Interns and Residents. David is a graduate of Wheaton College and he holds an International Baccalaureate from a college in the United Kingdom.

“These new hires represent our union’s commitment to growing our membership in strength and numbers,” Local 153 Business Manager Richard Lanigan said. “They have a wealth of experience with unions and the art of organizing, and they have displayed a firm commitment to assisting workers. We are pleased to have them join the staff at Local 153.”