Sam Williamson

Sam Williamson has been a labor and community leader for over 20 years, focusing on workers’ rights, equitable economic development, affordable housing, climate justice and a living wage for all workers. Sam served as the Western Pennsylvania Area Leader of 32BJ SEIU 2014 to 2024, and in May 2024 was appointed Vice President overseeing PA, DE and KY.

Originally from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, Sam got his start in labor as a unionized hotel waiter in Boston. After a stint as a community organizer for InFact, a corporate accountability organization, Sam was hired as an organizer by his former union, UNITE HERE. He moved to New York City in 2001 to organize, represent, and bargain for UNITE HERE’s food service local. His first campaign resulted in a landmark win for food service workers at JFK airport. During his tenure at UNITE HERE, Sam helped lead successful low-wage worker campaigns in corporate cafeterias across Manhattan.

In 2006, Williamson returned to Pennsylvania to manage the newly-formed union local, UNITE HERE PA Joint Board in Western PA. As the Joint Board’s Pittsburgh Director, he restructured the union to win strong contracts, grow member activism and consolidate political power, winning landmark worker retention language to protect jobs during future ownership transitions. Sam also successfully organized the Renaissance Hotel, providing a victory for hundreds of workers and ending a nearly decade-long union struggle for the workers in the hotel.

In 2011, Williamson accepted a position with 32BJ SEIU. During this time as District Director in Western PA, Sam oversaw the successful landmark organizing campaign of more than 1,000 Pittsburgh security officers who won their first contract in 2015. Under Sam’s leadership, 32BJ grew by over 25% in Western PA and now represents nearly 7,000 downtown office cleaners, public school workers and food service workers at Pittsburgh’s largest universities.

In addition to his roles with the Union, Sam has served on the boards of the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) of Pittsburgh Board of Directors, the League of Conservation Voters of Pennsylvania, Partners for Work, the Allegheny County Labor Council, and the PA AFL-CIO. Sam also co-founded PA UNITED, a coalition of community, labor, civil rights, faith and environmental groups united in the fight for social justice in Western PA. Williamson lives in the Pittsburgh’s Friendship neighborhood with his two daughters and partner Nikki Lu.