Silver Spring, MD – Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) International President John Costa has named Daniel B. Smith, former ATU Assistant General Counsel, as ATU General Counsel to replace the recently retired longtime ATU General Counsel Robert Molofsky.
"We welcome and congratulate Dan on his new role as ATU General Counsel," said Costa. "Dan is a brilliant attorney with extensive experience in labor law that he has used to help countless Locals and members of our Union. I have had the opportunity to work with Dan throughout the years, and he brings in-depth knowledge of our Union and the issues impacting our members and their families to his new role as General Counsel."
As Assistant General Counsel to the ATU since June 2011, Smith has advised ATU International and local union officers on a wide-range of legal issues and has represented the ATU in collective bargaining and before federal and state courts, the Department of Labor, the National Labor Relations Board, and other federal and state agencies. Smith received a J.D. cum laude from the Georgetown University Law Center in 2001 and a B.A. from Johns Hopkins University in 1994. After graduating from law school, he represented unions at a firm in private practice before joining the ATU's General Counsel's Department in 2011. Prior to law school, he was an organizer for four years with an industrial union.
"I'm honored to be selected General Counsel to this great union by International President John Costa, who has led and continues to lead our union through a very difficult period in history," said Smith. "Since the start of this pandemic, North America’s transit workers have courageously transported passengers to ensure that our communities could meet their essential needs. At the same time, our union has moved more aggressively and effectively than ever before to confront the challenges faced by our members, their families and their local unions on the streets, on the rails, in the garages, and in the halls of government. I'm looking forward to continuing to be a part of this aggressive defense and advancement of the interests of transit workers in Canada and the United States. Thank you for this honor."