Robin P. Williams worked as a food and office clerk at the Georgetown Safeway in Washington, D.C. for 13 years where she was a union member of UFCW Local 400. In 1986, she began her union activism as a safety coordinator and shop steward for the Local. She was a leader in signing up members for UFCW Active Ballot Club. In 1995 and 1996, she worked as a Special Project Union Representative with the Local to help sign up non-members in the “right to work” state of Virginia. Later she worked with the Local’s organizing team to bring a voice on the job to nursing home workers in Maryland. In 1997, Robin became a full-time organizer and union representative with UFCW Local 400.
In 2003, she was a lead coordinator in the “Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride,” which brought together tens of thousands of immigrant workers and immigrant rights activists in a tour throughout the United States to demand respect for immigrant workers rights. She was appointed Community Affairs Coordinator at the Strategic Affairs Department of Local 400 in 2004, where she was responsible for developing community and religious allies for organizing, collective bargaining, fighting Walmart, and educating the public about UFCW issues. In July 2005, Robin became the Associate Director of the Civil Rights and Community Action Department and was elected International Vice President in February 2015.
As a community leader, she helped develop the DC Jobs with Justice Interfaith Worker’s Coalition and the DC Workers’ Rights Board. She serves as an Executive Vice President of the UFCW Minority Coalition and is a trustee on the board of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists. Robin is also a board member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), A. Philip Randolph Institute (APRI), and the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference (SDP).
Robin has received numerous awards and honors for her tireless efforts on behalf of workers and communities. She has been recognized by the AFL-CIO Washington Metropolitan Central Labor Council, Jobs with Justice, Coalition of Black Trade Unionists, and has received the NAACP “Keeper of the Flame” award.
Black History Month Spotlight: An Interview with Robin Williams, UFCW International Vice-President