Lori Ann Ames

National President
United Service Workers Union (USWU), IUJAT

In Lori Ames’ 25-year career with the United Service Workers Union, she has grown her union and supports its diverse membership through some of the most challenging and fraught economic transformations our nation has known. Unlike so many other unions that are in decline, the USWU has seen unprecedented growth in membership due to aggressive grassroots organizing.
Today, USWU represents 24,000 members throughout the United States, training the next generation through its acclaimed Joint Apprenticeship Training Fund program. In 2016, she became the National Secretary-Treasurer of the Home Healthcare Workers of America, under her guidance, female membership in the IUJAT doubled in just four years.
Expanding her hands-on leadership approach, Ames serves as Vice President of USWU Local 355 and President of HHWA Local 1770. Within years, HHWA has grown to over 28,000 members, mainly comprising underrepresented immigrant women of color who care for society’s most vulnerable members. During the start of the pandemic, Ames aggressively advocated the interests of these members, submitting testimony to two Congressional Committee hearings, ensuring HHWA’s recognition among regulators and legislators in the home healthcare field which resulted in these frontline workers getting moved to the head of the line for vaccination and personal protective equipment.
USWU, IUJAT, and HHWA have thrived in this challenging environment because they are innovative, listen closely to their membership’s needs, and offer high-quality benefit plans—including secure medical, welfare, and employment separation benefits—as they’ve done for over 50 years.
Today, the 48-year-old Lori Ames, has steered her union through challenging times and seen her membership emerge stronger, determined to build on these gains and find new areas for growth. Under her leadership, USWU, IUJAT, and HHWA remain poised for opportunities to expand the much-needed protection of union membership into untapped and diverse fields while continually growing in established industries.