Pride Month Profiles: Julie Searle

For Pride Month, the AFL-CIO is spotlighting various LGBTQ+ Americans who have worked and continue to work at the intersection of civil and labor rights. Today’s Pride Month profile is Julie Searle.

Julie Searle is president of United Steelworkers (USW) Local 955, vice president of the Syracuse Labor Council in New York and a member of the Woman of Steel program. Searle is a member of the union’s first LGBTQ+ Advisory Committee, which works on improving contract language, expanding the union’s education curriculum to be inclusive and intersectional and to decrease incidents of harassment against LGBTQ+ members. Searle works at Packaging Corporation of America in Liverpool and was previously with Crucible Industries for 21 years. She currently serves as chair of the Central New York Women of Steel Committee and has helped organize many Women of Steel fundraisers and community service projects over the past few years. Searle is always one of the first people to volunteer to support the union and worthy causes in the community. She has stepped up in many ways as an activist.