Williams is the first African-American president of the Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO, elected initially in 1982 and every three years since.  Formerly, he was the Director of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, (AFSCME) Council 26, and, as an employee at the Library of Congress, he increased membership in their union threefold.

He served as the Assistant Director of the AFL-CIO Department of Field Mobilization, is a member of the AFL-CIO Central Labor Council Advisory Committee, and is a former regional director of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists.  He is a labor member of the Workforce Investment Council in DC, and is on the board of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of the National Capital Area, the DC Convention Center Authority, and the Ward 8 Workforce Development Council and co-chairs the DC Labor FilmFest.

He has served in the District of Columbia as a member of many boards and commissions including the Tax Revision Commission, the Unemployment Compensation Study Commission, and commissions that developed proposals for health care coverage, telecommunications and cable television.

He was an election observer for the first universal elections in South Africa, and has traveled extensively in Europe, Africa and Central America representing the AFL-CIO.  He is a native of Jamaica.