ABOUT LINDA
Linda Fields has lived her life with a defining purpose: to serve others and to fight for what is right. She has fought for the disenfranchised and underserved her entire life. She strives to speak up for the voiceless.
She worked for 28 years as a National Organizer & Business Agent for the National Union of Hospital and Healthcare Employees, District 1199C, AFSCME, AFL-CIO until 2018. She has personally negotiated hundreds of employee contracts and served as mediator for many grievances over the years. She has successfully obtained higher and fairer wages, employee benefits and workers’ rights for hospital workers for some of the largest hospital chains in Pennsylvania.
From a young age, she volunteered for several charitable organizations in her community and in her church helping the at-risk youth, the elderly, grieving families, and the impoverished. She is also a heart health advocate after losing so many in her family to heart disease. She formed her own non-profit called Circle of Life (formerly Heart to Heart Weekend of Life) to raise money and awareness for heart disease research.
Her experience as a negotiator, mediator, labor relations expert, and community advocate bring over 35 years of advocacy, love, compassion, and compromise. She has a unique ability to connect with people and build collaborative partnerships with common goals.
As a longtime political activist and field organizer, she has worked on both labor and Democratic campaigns at the federal, state, and local levels across Pennsylvania. In 2016, she served as an elected delegate to the 2016 Democratic National Convention. In 2018, she was elected as the Democratic Candidate for State Senate to challenge a two-term incumbent in the 24th District, a Republican stronghold across Montgomery, Berks and Bucks Counties. She lost the close election overall by 4.8% of the vote but won in Montgomery County and received nearly 50,000 votes, which was unprecedented for a Democrat for that seat in the history of the 24th district. Her impressive run for office brought national attention gaining historical numbers in voter turnout in a highly gerrymandered district.
For the past 20 years, she has called Montgomery County home splitting time between their two homes in King of Prussia and Pottstown. In the fall of 2015, she moved to Pottstown where she remained until January 2019, when she moved back to her home in King of Prussia. She has been married for 43 years to her husband Charles and remains an anchor for her children and grandchildren.
She served on the Advisory Board for Norristown City Council President Ed Turner for two terms. She has also served as a Trustee on the Pension Fund for Nursing Home and Healthcare Employees for two decades and as a Board member for the CBTU (Coalition of Black Trade Unionists).
She currently works as a Special Assistant for Laborers’ International Union of North America Local 135 in Norristown, PA.
She is currently running in the 2020 Democratic Primary for the Pennsylvania State Senate in the 17th District in Montgomery and Delaware Counties.