Labor & Employment Law

Hanley Takes the Wheel as New ATU President

By Mike Hall

Larry Hanley, who began his union career in 1978 as a 21-year-old bus driver in Brooklyn, was elected president of the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) yesterday at the union?s convention in Orlando, Fla. He succeeds Ronald J. Heintzman.

Hanley says that his efforts will focus on benefiting members

and the larger labor movement as well as in the service of improving mass transit throughout North America, where the future is dependent on bringing public transportation into the 21st century. Transit jobs are green jobs.

Hanley served as president of ATU Local 726 from 1987 until 2002. He then joined the staff of the international union. He most recently served on the general executive board as international vice president where he bargained and negotiated contracts for local unions.

Hanley helped found the Keep America Moving coalition to build support for mass transit. He has been politically active and was instrumental crating New York State?s Working Families Party in 1988.  For more information, read his bio here.

The ATU represents 200,000 bus drivers, subway operators and maintenance workers across the U.S. and Canada.

Full post as published by AFL-CIO NOW BLOG on October 01, 2010 (boomark / email).