The ATU General Executive Board (GEB) gathered in Chicago this week for a full slate of reports and updates from across our Union. International President John Costa chaired the week-long meeting, joined by International Executive Vice President Yvette Trujillo, International Secretary Treasurer Ken Kirk, ATU Canada President John Di Nino, and ATU’s International Vice Presidents representing members from Coast to Coast across the United States and Canada.
Over the course of the week, the GEB held informative discussions to set a course for the future of our Union. The GEB heard presentations from every department, including Organizing and Campaigns, Research, Legal, Communications, Health and Safety, and Workforce Development. The sessions reflected the full scope of the ATU's work on behalf of the 200,000+ workers we’re proud to represent.
The week didn't end in the boardroom. The GEB also visited the Pullman National Historical Park in Chicago, along with Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerichs, which was the site of the 1894 Pullman Strike and where the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters was organized beginning in 1925. A. Philip Randolph built a union out of the largest Black workforce in America and won a landmark labor agreement in 1937 that was as much a victory for civil rights as it was for workers.
Standing in that space, the weight of that history was impossible to ignore.
"The civil rights movement and the labor movement were never two separate fights," said Costa. "A. Philip Randolph knew that, and standing on that sacred ground, we felt it. ATU carries that legacy with us every single day. Thank you to our Chicago hosts, Locals 241 and 308, for your hospitality, and to our leadership for spending the week doing the significant work of this mighty Union.”