Laura Dickerson was elected to serve as Vice President of the International Union, UAW in June 2025. She was sworn in on July 1, succeeding Vice President Chuck Browning, who officially retired on June 30th. This election makes Laura the first African American woman to serve as Vice President in the history of the UAW. She is also the first African American woman to be elected to the International Executive Board in our union’s 90-year history. And still another first, as she was the first African American woman to serve as both a Regional Director and Assistant Director.

Dickerson currently serves as the Director of the UAW Ford, Agricultural Implement and Chaplaincy Departments. She is also the former Director of the Technical, Office and Professional (TOP) and Purchasing Departments.

Dickerson was assigned as the Director of the Technical, Office and Professional (TOP) Department in March of 2024. Prior to that, Dickerson was elected as the Director of UAW Region 1A at a special convention in August 2021 and re-elected by acclamation by the members of her Region in 2022.

Dickerson joined the UAW in 1997 as a member of UAW Local 600. She was elected chairperson of her unit for three terms (2002-2010) and to the bargaining team in 1999. She was elected delegate to the 34th and 35th Constitutional Conventions and was selected to serve on the 35th UAW Constitutional Convention Resolutions Committee, where she was elected and served as Chair. Dickerson has served as president of the UAW Local 600 Technical, Office and Professional (TOP) Advisory Council and held an elected position on the National Community Action Program (CAP) Executive Committee in 2010. She was appointed to Staff in June of 2010 as an International Servicing Representative.

In 2011, Dickerson served on the UAW Ford National Negotiations team and served as project manager for the UAW Ford Enhanced Care Pilot Program in 2012. Dickerson has also served as project manager for the Staff Voluntary Employees’ Beneficiary Association (VEBA) in 2014.

Dickerson is a fierce negotiator and has bargained many contracts during her career, having also negotiated Staff Council agreements in 2016 and 2020. Dickerson served on the Staff Council TOP Committee and as Vice President. 

As part of her many roles during her career, she has been a regular volunteer in the Detroit United Methodist Church’s Feed the Homeless initiatives, as well as the UAW Ford Feed the Homeless project for Labor Day. A breast cancer survivor herself, she has been an avid participant in the Susan G. Komen “Race for the cure” for many years.

Laura holds both a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree from Central Michigan University. Her Bachelor’s degree is in Industrial Supervision and Management with a minor in Industrial Safety. Her Master’s degree is in General Administration with a concentration in Health Services. She has been honored with many awards including the Woman of Excellence Award from the Michigan Chronicle in April 2021, Detroit Woman of the Year in 2024 and Exemplary Woman in Labor in 2025. In 2026, Dickerson will receive the Woman of the Year award from the Michigan Chronicle and she will be inducted in the Michigan Woman’s Hall of Fame.

Dickerson has been a fierce fighter for the membership with skills in Contract Negotiations, Grievance Settlement, Arbitration and Organizing. She will not stop fighting!