Liz McElroy

General Vice President for Government Affairs

Liz McElroy (she/her) leads a team focused on supporting candidates and enacting policies that will best ensure good jobs, safe workplaces, secure retirement, and a good life for IUPAT members, their families, and their communities.  She is a veteran union and political organizer who joined the IUPAT in 2021 after spending 15 years at the AFL-CIO at both the local (Philadelphia, PA) and national level.

Understanding that focusing primarily on electoral outcomes can lead to feeling disconnected from political work, Liz wants to work instead to re-engage the membership around political organizing – finding common ground on issues and policy where we can be impactful and which will lead to real results at national, state and local levels. In her role as GVP for Government Affairs, Liz works across departments and with District Councils to ensure the political, legislative, and policy priorities are aligned with the overall goals of the IUPAT.

Throughout her time in the labor movement, she has earned a reputation as a pragmatic leader who can help unite people and groups to fight for a common goal. From 2012-2014, Liz was Secretary-Treasurer of the Philadelphia AFL-CIO becoming both the first woman and the youngest person ever elected to that office.

Liz holds a B.A. from Providence College (1994) and a J.D. from the Washington College of Law at American University (2000).