The 44th Annual Virginia State AFL-CIO Constitutional Convention

August 13-15th, 2026: Labor, History & Solidarity in Williamsburg, VA

The Williamsburg Lodge in Williamsburg, Virginia, is one of the state’s few unionized hotels and has hosted the Virginia State AFL-CIO Convention for decades. The Lodge is part of Historic Hotels of America, and its preservation, along with that of other historic Williamsburg buildings, was supported by John D. Rockefeller Jr.

That connection carries a certain irony given the Rockefeller family’s long history of conflict with organized labor, including Rockefeller Jr.’s connection to the events surrounding the Ludlow Massacre.

During the 1913–1914 Colorado coal strike, miners working for Rockefeller-controlled Colorado Fuel & Iron and other companies walked off the job seeking union recognition and better working conditions. The Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency, headquartered in Roanoke, Virginia, was among the private forces brought into the conflict against the striking miners.

The confrontation reached its darkest point at Ludlow on April 20, 1914, when Colorado National Guard troops and company guards attacked the miners’ tent colony. By the end of the day, the colony was in flames. Among the dead were 11 children and two women who had sought shelter beneath the tents. The tragedy became one of the most infamous episodes in American labor history and helped shape Rockefeller Jr.’s later approach to labor relations and philanthropy.

More than a century later, union members gather at the Williamsburg Lodge under much different circumstances.

The Virginia State AFL-CIO includes 40 international unions and two constituency groups, collectively representing approximately 93,000 workers across the Commonwealth.

The 44th Annual Virginia State AFL-CIO Constitutional Convention was held Thursday, August 13, through Saturday, August 15, 2026, bringing union members from across Virginia together in Williamsburg.

During the convention, delegates heard from political and labor leaders, including Congressman Bobby Scott; Jim Frederick, Commissioner of the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry; Nicole Overly, Commissioner of Virginia Works; Attorney General Jay Jones; Jessica Looman, Virginia Secretary of Labor; Delegate Marcia Price; and Lieutenant Governor Ghazala Hashmi.

Presentations and commentary were also provided by labor leaders Amber Miller, vice president of the United Steelworkers; Liz Shuler, president of the AFL-CIO; and Michael O’Connor, labor reporter with the Virginia Dogwood.

A key purpose of the Virginia State AFL-CIO Convention is education. This year’s workshop options included Paid Family and Medical Leave, Data Centers, Virginia Works 101, Virginia What IF, and Labor 2026.

The Paid Family and Medical Leave workshop covered new Virginia laws and how they will be implemented. The Data Centers workshop discussed labor’s position on data center construction and related talking points. Virginia Works 101 explained the state program and the services available to job seekers, including job-search guidance, training opportunities, and connections with employers.

The Virginia What IF workshop addressed the state’s goal of creating injury-free workplaces and explored new approaches to improving workplace safety. Labor 2026 focused on the Virginia AFL-CIO’s political program for the year ahead.

The Virginia AFL-CIO has four area labor federations made up of unions representing different regions of the Commonwealth. As it does every four years, this convention included elections for state AFL-CIO officers and executive board members.

Each area labor federation selected five representatives, while the full convention elected the president and secretary-treasurer. The board also includes one representative from each affiliated union.

On the final day of the convention, Doris Crouse-Mays and Jason Parker were re-elected president and secretary-treasurer, respectively, of the Virginia AFL-CIO.

But conventions like this are about more than elections, workshops, speeches, and resolutions.

They give union members from across Virginia an opportunity to sit down with workers from other unions, share experiences, and build relationships across industries and regions. Those conversations help delegates recognize how much workers have in common, whether the issue is wages, benefits, workplace safety, organizing, or political advocacy.

Bringing workers together in one place helps build the coalitions necessary to support one another beyond a single workplace, local union, trade, or community.

That coalition-building has always been at the heart of the labor movement. It reflects a principle that has survived strikes, depressions, wars, political changes, and more than a century of battles over the rights of working people:

“An injury to one is an injury to all.”

Submitted by

Kristy L. Vance

Secretary-Treasurer, Western Virginia Area Labor Federation, AFL-CIO

Phone: (276) 238-7456

P.O. Box 121268

Roanoke, VA 24023

Website: https://va-aflcio.org/westernva