UFCW Local 1529
Standing strong for working families
Powering · Labor Education
Vonda
McDaniel
President, Central Labor Council of Nashville & Middle TennesseeVice President, AFL-CIO Executive CouncilCo-Executive Director, Highlander Center
More than three decades of solidarity, service, and Southern labor leadership.
The labor movement mourns the loss of a beloved leader, sister, and friend. From the shop floor at Bridgestone/Firestone to a Vice Presidency on the national AFL-CIO Executive Council, Vonda McDaniel spent a lifetime putting the needs of working people before her own — bridging the struggles of race, class, and gender for a better future for all of us. Her light will guide this movement for generations to come.
Share Sister Vonda’s memorial with your union family. The Memphis & West Tennessee CLC and labor all over the world will truly miss her — and we are praying for her family.
President
Central Labor Council of Nashville & Middle Tennessee
Homegoing Celebration
Service Arrangements
December 18, 1965 — June 30, 2026
Tuesday, July 7, 2026
5:30 PM – 7:30 PM (Central)
Ivy Beyond the Wall ceremony at 6:30 PM
Wednesday, July 8, 2026
12:00 Noon (Central)
“She taught us. She guided us. She fought with us, for us, and beside us. Today, labor all over the world has lost an unforgettable giant — a true legend of our movement.”
— Kevin Bradshaw
President, Memphis & West Tennessee CLC · Founder, LaborEducation.org
Her Lessons Live On
The Vonda McDaniel School of Movement Building
Learn from her life: how she taught, the five lessons worth adopting, her videos and presentations, a reading list, and a knowledge check with a printable Movement Builder certificate in her honor.
Enter the School“Fiercely loyal to the working people in her Nashville, Tennessee, community, Vonda McDaniel continues to be a powerful leader through her faith and commitment to all people. By bridging the struggles of race, class and gender with her visionary strategy for a better future for all of us, she has always placed the needs of the labor movement before her own.”
— AFL-CIO, Black History Month Profile
“Vonda could see what was on the edge of possibility before others. She commanded quiet respect earned by decades of credibility and consistently showing up to do what needed to be done. She encouraged others to think big and was the kind of leader that was willing to be led, seeing the possibility in others’ leadership. She refused to be discouraged, working tirelessly across the lines that are used to divide us.”
— Garrett Stark, Co-Executive Director, Highlander Center
Vonda served as Co-Executive Director of the historic Highlander Research & Education Center — The Movement School that has trained Southern labor and civil-rights leaders since 1932.
A Life in the Movement
The Shop Floor
Vonda joins the United Rubber Workers (URW) at the Bridgestone/Firestone plant in La Vergne, Tennessee. Not long after, she steps up as a Shop Steward — the first rung of a lifetime of standing up for coworkers.
A New Banner
The URW merges into the United Steelworkers (USW). Vonda embraces the change as a new opportunity, carrying her activism forward as a proud member of USW Local 1055L.
Trained to Lead — Then Teaching Others
She trains through the USW's Women of Steel leadership initiative, then becomes a trainer herself, opening the door for other women to rise in the movement.
In Service to Members
Vonda serves a decade as a local Union Pension and Insurance Representative — the unglamorous, essential work of making sure working families were protected.
President of the Central Labor Council
Elected President of the Central Labor Council of Nashville & Middle Tennessee. Under her leadership the CLC grows from an all-volunteer body into a staffed, campaign-oriented organization — an “incubator for experimentation and innovation.”
A National Voice
Elected a Vice President of the national AFL-CIO Executive Council, representing the State Federations and Central Labor Councils. She co-chairs the State Federation/Central Labor Council Advisory Committee.
Carrying the Torch to Highlander
Named Co-Executive Director of the historic Highlander Research and Education Center, joining in February 2026 — the same movement school that trained generations of civil rights and labor leaders in the South.
Leadership & Service
President, Central Labor Council of Nashville & Middle TN
Since 2013
Vice President, AFL-CIO Executive Council
Since 2017
Co-Executive Director, Highlander Center
Named 2026
Past President, Tennessee State APRI
A. Philip Randolph Institute
Past President, Nashville APRI
A. Philip Randolph Institute
Vice Chair, Music City Center Board
Nashville
Tennessee State Workforce Investment Board
Appointee
Graduate, Tennessee State University
Nashville, TN
Sisterhood, Alma Mater & Union
Three pillars shaped a lifetime of service — her sorority, her alma mater, and her union.
Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.
By Culture and By Merit · Est. 1908
A proud member of the first Greek-letter sorority founded by African American women. In AKA tradition, a departed soror is lovingly remembered as “Ivy Beyond the Wall.”
Tennessee State University
Think · Work · Serve
A proud graduate of Tennessee State University — Nashville’s historic HBCU and home of the Big Blue Tigers.
United Steelworkers (USW)
Local 1055L · Women of Steel
From the shop floor at Bridgestone/Firestone to a Women of Steel trainer — the union that launched a lifetime of solidarity and service.
Building Something That Lasts
When Vonda took the helm of the Central Labor Council of Nashville and Middle Tennessee in 2013, it was an entirely volunteer organization. Over a decade of transformative work, she helped grow it into a staffed, campaign-oriented body that recruited thousands of affiliated union members and expanded labor's voice across the community. Her tenure centered on equitable access to resources, solidarity economies, and a deep commitment to transparency and democratic values — turning the CLC into what Highlander called an “incubator for experimentation and innovation.”
The Work of a Lifetime
Tennessee for All
As a leader with Tennessee for All, Vonda brought change to her home state — supporting veterans, fighting corporate power, and raising wages for working people.
See Tennessee for All in Community PartnersBuilding Careers Through Apprenticeship
Her passion was lifting up community members through life-changing apprenticeship programs using North America's Building Trades Unions' Multi-Craft Core Curriculum (MC3) — altering the trajectory of countless lives.
Explore the MC3 Trades SimulationGrowing the Next Generation
Vonda was devoted to developing the next generation of labor leaders — especially young people, women, and people of color — leaving a movement that is stronger and more diverse for her work.
Visit LaborEducation.orgThe Labor Movement Mourns
“Today we join the entire labor movement in mourning the loss of a trailblazer and true champion of working people, Vonda McDaniel. As the president of the Central Labor Council of Nashville and Middle Tennessee and a vice president of the AFL-CIO Executive Council, Vonda left an indelible impression on the movement she loved, both in her home state of Tennessee and throughout the entire country. Over the course of her incredible career, Vonda poured her heart and soul into improving workers' lives and strengthening our movement.”
“Using the power of the labor and civil rights movements, Vonda was able to create deep alignment between workers and community and, in doing so, created a vital road map to organizing efforts in the South.”
“To know Vonda was to love her. A trade unionist to her core, she embodied the values of our movement and was profoundly committed to using the transformative power of organizing to build a brighter future in the South. Her profound commitment and efforts to build, strengthen and diversify our movement leave a lasting legacy and a new generation of workers to carry her legacy forward.”
— AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler & Secretary-Treasurer Fred Redmond
A Tribute from Memphis & West Tennessee
In Loving Memory of Vonda McDaniel
It is with profound sorrow and heavy hearts that the Memphis & West Tennessee Central Labor Council mourns the passing of our beloved sister, mentor, and friend, Vonda McDaniel — President of the Central Labor Council of Nashville & Middle Tennessee, a Vice President of the national AFL-CIO Executive Council, and Co-Executive Director of the Highlander Research and Education Center.
Sister Vonda was more than a titan of the Tennessee labor movement — she was its heart. From the shop floor at Bridgestone/Firestone to the highest councils of the AFL-CIO, she never forgot who she was fighting for: the working families of our state and our nation. She carried the struggles of race, class, and gender on her shoulders and turned them into a movement of hope, dignity, and power.
Here in Memphis and across West Tennessee, we loved her. She lifted us up. She showed us that when working people stand together in solidarity, the strength in numbers can move mountains and change lives. Her voice, her wisdom, and her unshakable belief in the dignity of every worker will echo through this movement for generations to come.
The labor movement all over the world will truly miss her, and there will never be another like her.
To her family, we extend our deepest love and our fervent prayers. In this time of grief, know that you do not stand alone — you are surrounded by the entire union family she gave her life to build.
Rest in Power, Sister Vonda. We will carry your torch forward.
In solidarity and mourning,
Kevin Bradshaw
President, Memphis & West Tennessee AFL-CIO Central Labor Council
A Servant Leader Remembered
“A great servant leader has departed this earthly realm. Vonda McDaniel truly represented as a humble servant. Her reach extended well beyond the local union, state federation and National Executive Council. Vonda brought together labor, community and faith-based groups. Her vision for a better Tennessee came to existence through being a founder of TN for All. We have lost a giant, but we will continue the fight in the spirit of Vonda McDaniel. Rest well, brave soldier.”
Kermit Moore
President, Memphis A. Philip Randolph Institute (APRI) & Memphis NAACP · Retired, United Steelworkers (USW)
A Remembrance from a Best Friend
“Thirty years ago, I met Vonda at Bridgestone Tire Company. Not knowing she would become my best friend. For fifteen years we worked closely together on many labor and community projects.”
“I learned her love for labor, but more importantly her love and devotion to her family. Vonda is the most genuine person I have ever met.”
“Last Sunday evening, when we talked, her voice was weak, but she wouldn’t stop talking. She knew, and I realized, this would be our last conversation. I told her, ‘Vonda, I love you,’ her reply was, ‘I love you too, D.’”
Dietrich Johnson
Retired, United Steelworkers (USW) Local 1055L
In Her Own Words
“We know the power of collective action and collective leadership firsthand. We embody that, and find strength in our established intergenerational, multi-racial, and multi-gender leadership team.”
Faith & Civil Rights Roots
A lifelong Southerner from Nashville, Vonda's activism is shaped by her faith and her home at First Baptist Church, Capitol Hill — an early center of student organizing during the Civil Rights Movement. She lives out the intersection of labor, civil rights, and faith every day.
Community & Affiliations
- Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.
- A. Philip Randolph Institute — Nashville Chapter
- Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU)
- First Baptist Church, Capitol Hill
Remembering Vonda
A life in pictures — moments of solidarity, service, and joy.
Watch & Read
Vonda McDaniel: The Pioneer in Politics
In her own voice — Vonda on labor leadership, women in politics, and standing up for working people in Nashville.
More Video
In the News
Leave a Remembrance
Share a memory, a word of comfort, or what Sister Vonda meant to you and your union. Your remembrance will be added to this memorial for her family and community.
8 Remembrances
We are deeply saddened by the loss of our Sister in the Labor Movement. Our prayers are now with the family and countless friends Vonda made in her many years of service to the Labor movement and her community. Gone but not forgotten rest in peace Sister Vonda.
Vonda was an incomparable force in Tennessee's labor movement. The progressive institutions she helped build will carry on great work in her name and with loving memories for years to come. We were lucky to learn from her teaching and her example, and we will sorely miss her presence as we carry forward her work.
There are no words to convey how heavy this loss is MsVonda thank you for your patience, your wisdom and your friendship. I count myself honored to have been in the work with you. We will carry on and make you proud
My mentor. My friend. You would always check on me. Giving pearls of wisdom on being what it takes to be a good leader in this labor movement. I will miss seeing your face and feeling uplifted and encouraged every time i left your presence. Thank you my friend. Thank you.
Thank you, Vonda, for being a source of inspiration and motivation for me and our Union family. I appreciate your honor you, and love you eternally.
I had the privilege of meeting sister Vonda a few years ago after being elected president of the Metro Baltimore CLC. A sister in the movement encouraged the meeting, and as an emerging leader myself, within the first few minutes of talking to sister Vonda I understood why all who knew her loved her. Her gentle spirit, knowledge, and passion in fighting for working people should be considered a masterclass in leadership — and what we should all aspire to be. Having a chance to connect a few weeks ago at the AFL-CIO convention offered another moment of inspiration and insight from a movement leader who will be deeply missed. Thank you sister. Prayers to your family and all who loved you. We’ll keep fighting to keep your legacy alive!
I met Sister Vonda in the early 2010s when we both served on the AFL-CIO State & CLC Committee. She became my link to Tennessee after working in northern Virginia and DC since 1990. (I got my first union card in 1973 at the Kroger in Decherd.) She became a fast and good friend. She made my return to Tennessee so much better when I returned home in 2024 after retiring. Vonda was a true and dedicated fighter for all workers. She was proud to be a trade unionists. Love you, my Sister!
I will never forget the endless phone calls and texts and reminders that me and my big sister Vonda had. Forever encouraging, loving and understanding. May your spirit live forever through us all. Prayers for the family.
Rest in power, Vonda — and thank you for a lifetime of solidarity.
Her example reminds us that the labor movement is built one act of courage, one contract, and one community at a time. May we carry her work forward.
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