[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 50 (Thursday, March 21, 2024)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E277-E278]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 HONORING SONYA STALNAKER AS A DISTINGUISHED LEADER IN CENTRAL FLORIDA 
                       FOR WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. DARREN SOTO

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 21, 2024

  Mr. SOTO. Mr. Speaker, Sonya Stalnaker is a Union commercial painter 
by trade. She started in 2001 as an apprentice and completed the 
Painter's apprenticeship of the IUPAT in 2005. She has spent her last 
23 years dedicated to her Union, her family, and doing what she loves: 
painting and helping others.
  She has served in the capacity of shop steward on the job and part-
time instructor at the Painter's apprenticeship. Working hard and 
coming up in the ranks, she served as Financial Secretary in Local 1010 
for the previous 5 years. She was the Commercial Paint Coordinator for 
the Florida Finishing Trades (Painter's apprenticeship) from 2021 to 
2023.

[[Page E278]]

Last year, she ran for President and won the election becoming the 
first woman President for Local 1010. In 2018, she was elected 
President of Central Florida's Chapter of the Coalition of Black Trade 
Unionists.
  She strides every day to teach, educate, and do what needs to be done 
to help make a difference in her Union, home, and her community. She is 
a selfless type of person that does all she can to be better so that 
she can continue doing the work that needs to be done, helping those in 
need and fighting THE GOOD FIGHT.

                          ____________________