Trailblazer
Roxanne Brown is the USW’s International Vice President at Large, overseeing the union’s public
policy and legislative agenda as well as its political work. She has spent more than two decades
advancing policies on Capitol Hill and with regulatory agencies on behalf of USW members. She
has extensive experience in manufacturing, environmental and energy policy.
Brown has testified on workers’ behalf before the International Trade Commission, on Capitol
Hill and before state legislatures, and has represented the USW with global policymakers,
including the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change
She helped advance legislation to strengthen U.S. defense procurement laws, ensuring that tens
of thousands of USW members—including the combat vehicle manufacturers at Local 7687 (York,
Pa.) and the shipbuilders at Local 8888 (Newport News, Va.)—continue to arm and equip
America’s military.
Brown has also played a key role in shaping environmental policies with the potential to affect
USW jobs, including the Boiler Maximum Achievable Control Technologies (Boiler MACT) rule
intended to reduce air pollutants. She worked with USW members and the Environmental
Protection Agency between 2010 – 2013 to achieve environmental, worker and community
safety goals while avoiding broad negative impacts to workers.
Brown led the USW’s work on the “American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009,” ensuring
the bill would not have unintended negative consequences on workers.
Though the legislation stalled in Congress, the provisions she helped develop became a model
for job and manufacturing retention in climate measures.
In 2002, Brown helped coordinate a 20,000-person rally in Washington, D.C., calling on President
George W. Bush to protect the steel industry from foreign dumping
Brown serves as a vice president on the AFL-CIO executive council, was a founding steering
committee member of the BlueGreen Alliance and is a member of the Coalition of Black Trade
Unionists. She serves on the Secretary of Energy Advisory Board as well as the boards of the
Center for Community Change, League of Conservation Voters and the National Endowment for
Democracy. In 2023, Brown was recognized by TIME magazine as one of the 100 most innovative
leaders driving climate action.
Born in Kingston, Jamaica, Brown was raised in White Plains, New York.