Labor Member

Barbara Somson retired as the Legislative Director from the United Auto Workers (UAW) union in 2012, having served as a federal lobbyist from 1999 to 2012, and working on issues that include the National Labor Relations Act; the Occupational Safety and Health Act; minimum wage and overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act; unemployment insurance; and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

Prior to this, Ms. Somson was appointed to the D.C. Council Committee on Government Operations in January 1997.  In that position, she was responsible for the Omnibus Personnel Reform Amendment Act of 1998 (D.C. Law 12-24), working extensively with representatives of both labor and management to fashion legislation that significantly modernized the District’s personnel system.  In addition to other legislative responsibilities, she led the Committee’s work with the Barry administration, the U.S. Department of Labor, and District public employee labor unions to establish the D.C. Labor Management Partnership Council as a forum to facilitate communication between high-level labor and management representatives in order to improve service delivery by District agencies.

Ms. Somson earned a B.A. degree from Boston University and a J.D. from Catholic University.