Stuart W. Davidson

Stuart Davidson tirelessly advocates for labor unions and the workers they represent. He represents public and private benefit funds, fighting to preserve the ability of workers to retire with dignity and have access to affordable health care. His work for unions includes leading contract negotiations, presenting interest and grievance arbitrations and advising on external and internal union matters. Stuart serves as chief counsel to large regional and local unions along the East and Gulf coasts and in the Chicago area.

Stuart has also played key roles in the development of new and progressive benefit structures with the pension and health and welfare plans he represents. His work has supported legislation to ensure that workers have a fair opportunity to maximize the value of their labor and to achieve the American Dream. Stuart began his legal career by successfully defending the pension rights of state employees in a case that was ultimately decided by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. On the heels of that success, he has been involved in representing a wide range of union workers, including musicians, longshoremen, university faculty, firefighters, film and television casting directors, teamsters, police officers, teachers, hotel workers, correctional officers, food and commercial workers and NFL players. Throughout his career, Stuart has worked to protect the safety, security and dignity of the people he represents, and he continues to champion their rights today.

Consistent with his efforts on behalf of workers, Stuart is committed to community and public service. As a member of the Board of Philadelphia Lawyers for Social Equity (PLSE), he has worked to reform the criminal justice system to ameliorate collateral damage caused by criminal records. He helped to develop the Workshop School in West Philadelphia, a standalone, four-year project-based public high school helping young people unleash their creative and intellectual potential to solve the world’s toughest problems. Stuart was instrumental in the genesis of Our Generation Speaks (OGS), a fellowship program and incubator where emerging Israeli and Palestinian leaders create high-impact ventures and in so doing, build a shared economic future.

He also co-chairs on the Advisory Board of Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy (LAANE), the largest social justice advocacy group on the West Coast. Stuart also helped to build the Yitzhak Rabin Center in Tel Aviv and served as Chair of the American Friends of the Yitzhak Rabin Center for over a decade.

More recently he joined the Advisory Board of Capital and Main, the nations premier journalistic endeavor investigating money, power, and society.

He has served as a trustee of The Johns Hopkins University and Medical Institutions.  He established the Occupational Safety and Health Advisory Council at The Johns Hopkins School of Public Health.

He is a frequent lecturer, teacher and author on issues such as ERISA, fiduciary responsibilities, labor law, employment discrimination, drug and alcohol testing and other labor and employment concerns. He regularly speaks at programs sponsored by the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans where he serves as a member of the Professionals Committee and has taught at the Penn State Union Leadership Academy, the Penn State Occupational Safety and Health Institute, the Harvard Trade Union Program and Harvard Business School.

WHAT INSPIRES ME ABOUT MY WORK

“The men and women who I represent energize me. Men and women who support each other and who risk everything to build a better future for themselves and their families inspire me. It doesn’t really matter whether they are firefighters, police officers, teachers, longshoremen, teamsters, grocery clerks, hospital workers, sanitation workers or football players. Their struggles are the same and there is dignity in all work. The deck has long been stacked against workers and if I can make the playing field just a little more even, then I am happy.”

AWAY FROM WORK

“Few activities have been as fulfilling as helping young Israeli and Palestinian social entrepreneurs to build a shared economic future through my work with Our Generation Speaks. Peace will come when young people come to know each other, learn to work together, and build partnerships—I’m inspired by the risks they take to build a better world.”