Stella Fafalios was born in Piraeus,Greece. Stella immigrated to the United States in 1980, with her father, Emmanuel, her mother, Pitsa, and her younger brother, Hercules. Her father is a retired member of District Council 9 (DC-9) of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT). He stressed the importance of being in a union and encouraged his daughter to seize the opportunity to be a part of the unionized workforce, and that is exactly what she did.
Stella is a first-generation member of Local 3. She was accepted into the apprenticeship program in February 2007 and received her ‘A’ card in August 2012. She was an active member of the ‘A’ Apprentice Advisory Committee throughout her apprenticeship. Stella served as a member of the Board of Directors, Sergeant-at-Arms, and Chairwoman while on the Advisory Committee. She was also a part of the apprentice negotiating team in 2010. Stella was elected to fulfill the unexpired term of Louis Alvarez on the Examining Board in 2015, a position she held for 8 years. At the February 2023 General Membership meeting, Stella was appointed Business Representative of the ADM and Expeditor Divisions by Business Manager Christopher Erikson. In order to fully devote herself to her responsibilities as Business Representative, Stella resigned from the Examining Board in August 2023 and Sascha Swanson fulfilled her unexpired term.
Stella has worked as a sub-foreman, foreman, and general foreman at One World Trade Center. Prior to joining the Local 3 staff, she worked as a Site Safety Professional on numerous projects including LaGuardia Airport, Google Project Martha, Amazon, and Disney Galaxy. Stella was a Lock-out/Tag-out instructor for the Joint Industry Board. She has completed classes in Confined Space, Fiber Optic Splicing, Lock-out/Tag-out, Diversity training, NFPA 70E, and the 62-hour Supervisor training course.
Stella has participated in several conferences representing Local 3, including two AFL-CIO Young Workers Conferences, several IBEW Women’s Conferences, and the Electrical Workers Minority Caucus (EWMC). Stella was an Alternate Delegate to the 2016 IBEW International Convention and a Delegate to the 2022 IBEW International Convention. She is a member of the Keystone Club, Allied Club of Queens, and Greek Orthodox Council, and she has served on the Mentorship Committee.
Stella was raised in Astoria, Queens. She is engaged to Local 3 member Michael Hernandez and lives in Queens with her beautiful daughter, Zoe.
