Union Comms Powerhouse Hailstone Adds Former Public Affairs Director of National Labor Relations Board

Washington, D.C. – Hailstone Communications has furthered its position as one of the country’s leading public relations and communications firms for unions with the hiring of Kayla Blado – the former director of congressional and public affairs for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) under the Biden administration – as executive vice president. The move to expand Hailstone's labor practice comes as unions face growing threats and the firm’s profile has grown significantly with a series of historic wins for its union clients in the areas of organizing, politics and contract campaigns. 

Ms. Blado brings almost 15 years of communications experience, including with the NLRB and as the director of media relations for the Economic Policy Institute, the nation’s foremost think tank which promotes the interests of working Americans. She holds a bachelor’s from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a graduate certificate in communications from the Harvard Extension School, and was most recently a Fulbright Scholar focused on strategic labor communications. 

“I’m thrilled to join the Hailstone team because I’m deeply passionate about utilizing the most powerful and cutting-edge communications strategies to help working families win good jobs, dignity and a better future,” said Ms. Blado. “I’m already digging in to provide robust support to our current union clients and looking forward to continuing to build expansive relationships throughout the labor movement.”

Among Hailstone’s many groundbreaking victories for labor union clients, the firm recently led the public relations for the successful organizing campaign involving over 800 nurses at UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital in Pittsburgh, the largest nurse unionization effort in recent Pennsylvania history. For the past few years, Hailstone has also been spearheading communications for the campaign which passed a $16 minimum wage for over 15,000 home care workers through the Nevada legislature. Hailstone has also led the communications to successfully organize thousands of other workers into unions, win major contract agreements, raise union clients’ profiles, elect union-backed candidates and pass critical legislation. Unions across the country have been increasingly reaching out for Hailstone's services as they have faced rising threats to workers’ rights from large corporations and the federal government. 

Hailstone was founded by 25-year PR veteran Dave Bates, who formerly built the communications departments for the country’s two largest healthcare unions, SEIU United Healthcare Workers West and 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East. Bates launched Hailstone to fill an urgent need for a communications firm with deep labor union experience and an aggressive campaign approach. Hailstone distinguishes itself by not only providing all PR and communications services to clients – including press outreach, op-eds, social media, advertising in every medium, videography, design, mail, email and texting, strategic advising, event planning and campaign management – but also going beyond the usual agency scope of work to support community coalition building and member engagement. 

“We’re very honored and proud to welcome Kayla on board to expand our support for our labor union clients and help them achieve their highest strategic goals,” said Dave Bates, president of Hailstone. “Kayla has a stellar reputation for doing incredible work at the Labor Board, Economic Policy Institute and other organizations, and has built crucial relationships across the labor movement, coalition allies and the press. The Hailstone team is profoundly committed to supporting unions to communicate in the most effective way possible in order to successfully expand membership, win contracts, pass legislation and elect pro-worker candidates. This commitment stems from our clear understanding and fundamental conviction that unions are the best and last line of defense to ensure working people have a strong voice in their workplaces, their communities and in our country overall.”​