Alum Elected to Head Union

Donald “D” Taylor (SFS ’80) will serve as the next president of the labor union UNITE HERE, which represents Georgetown University Dining Services workers.

Taylor was elected by the union’s nine member governing body on Nov. 29, according to a UNITE HERE press release. The majority of UNITE HERE’s 265,000 members work in the food service, hotel, laundry, warehouse and casino industries across North America.

Coming from a single-parent household with limited means, Taylor waited tables during college so he could support himself financially, according to a Nov. 25 feature on him published in The Las Vegas Sun. Taylor launched into union work while still in school, joining the restaurant workers union in 1979. He joined the Culinary Workers’ Union — also called Local 226 — a year later. 

Taylor is now leaving his post as head of Local 226 in Las Vegas. The 60,000 members of Local 226 make it the largest affiliate of UNITE HERE. Taylor has also served as general vice president of UNITE HERE since 2009.