International President John Costa accepted the City & State Labor Power 100 recognition tonight, and turned the spotlight right back on the members.
Costa started out as a cleaner for New Jersey Transit who was tired of watching his coworkers be treated with disrespect, and that's what still drives him.
"You don't win anything by being polite and waiting your turn," he told the room. "You win by showing up, by staying loud, and by being just as determined as the people across the table from you."
Under Costa’s leadership, the ATU has added nearly 10,000 new members, launched more than 150 workforce development programs, and kept fighting in statehouses and in Washington to protect transit workers from violence on the job.
But Costa was clear about who the award really belongs to: the cleaners, the operators, the mechanics, the dispatchers, the Local officers fielding calls at midnight because a member's in trouble.
"If there's any credit in this award, it belongs to every Local President, every Shop Steward, every rank and file member who decided the ATU was worth their time and their trust."
Thank you, President Costa, for always keeping workers front and center, and for never letting anyone forget who this movement is for.
Solidarity Forever!
