[caption id="attachment_2802" align="alignright" width="200" caption="Field Representative Steve D’Amico served two terms on Beacon Hill as a state representative before joining Local 888."][/caption]

When Steve D’Amico decided to run for state representative in in 2006, he was still grieving the recent loss of his wife to breast cancer. “I wanted to do something to make her proud,” recalls D’Amico, who won office and served two terms representing the 4th Bristol district. D’Amico arrived on Beacon Hill having never held elected office before, but his commitment to social and economic justice has been lifelong. After college he worked as a community organizer in Providence, where he trained local residents to fight for their rights. “My values were really set early on,” says D’Amico, who lives in Seekonk and has long been active in local politics and community organizations.

D’Amico lost his re-election bid in 2010 to a Republican challenger and immediately went in search of what he describes, only half joking, as “more honest work to do.” These days, D’Amico is serving as a representative of a different kind. He works for Local 888 assisting municipal workers, who, he says, have been unfairly blamed for the nation’s financial woes. “Public servants didn’t cause this mess—it was caused by Wall Street,” says D’Amico.

His work at Local 888 enables him to advocate for the causes that are near and dear to him, especially building stronger unions in order to protect and strengthen working families.“The reason that working people are under attack is because unions are under attack,” says D’Amico. “The challenge for us is to show people that unions make us stronger.”