For UWUA organizer Melissa Harter, the labor movement isn’t something she found later in life — it’s something she was born into.
Harter is part of a four-generation union tradition, one that stretches across Ohio, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. It began with her maternal grandfather, Ellis Miller, an ironworker who entered the trade as an apprentice in 1957 and spent his career helping build the infrastructure that keeps communities running. Years later, Harter would take a job at a coal-fired power plant — one her grandfather helped build — and become active in Local 478 as a steward and later secretary.
Her father, Jerry Smith, followed a similar path as a United Steelworkers member, working his entire career in a steel mill. Today, Harter continues that tradition as a UWUA member and has been traveling the country as a national organizer since joining the UWUA staff in May 2025. Her 26-year-old son, Skyler Rice, is now a steelworker, and her younger son, Aiden, is already planning a future in the trades — ensuring the family’s union legacy will carry into yet another generation.
Growing up, the message was clear: work hard, take care of your family, and earn your way. Those lessons were tested early. A young mother at 14, Harter worked her way through college while raising her son and relying on public assistance to get by.
Everything changed when she landed a union job at a power plant. It provided stability, a steady paycheck, and the ability to support her family on her own. She worked there for 17 years, most recently as a senior industrial hygienist, before joining the UWUA staff.
“I owe everything to my local,” Harter said.
That experience continues to shape how she approaches her work today. As an organizer, Harter understands what union membership can mean — not just in wages and benefits, but in dignity, opportunity, and a path forward for working families.
“I’ve always told my sons, nothing is handed to you — you have to work for it,” she said. Skyler experienced it firsthand. After starting out in a non-union job, he moved into a union position and quickly saw the difference — better pay, stronger benefits, and greater security.
Now, as a national organizer, Harter is focused on helping others find those same opportunities. The work is different from her days at the plant — less immediate, more long-term — but the mission remains the same.
“The union changed my life,” she said. “I want other people to have that opportunity.”
For Harter, the labor movement is about more than one job or one generation. It’s about building something enduring — so that the next generation has a stronger foundation than the last.
Caption: Ellis Miller, Jerry Smith, Melissa Harter, Sklyer Rice and Aiden Harter