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Michael T. O'Brien, Seventh President, 2004-2006
MICHAEL T. O'BRIEN stepped down as International
President for medical reasons on March 31, 2006. He was
unanimously elected TWU's 7th International President on
September 21, 2004 by TWU's International Executive
Council to fill out the unexpired term of retiring
President Sonny Hall. He was subsequently elected by
acclamation to a full four-year term by TWU's 22nd
Constitutional Convention in September 2005.
O'Brien joined TWU Local 282 in 1972 as a school bus
driver and later in maintenance for Bristol Township,
Pennsylvania. He began representing fellow Local 282
members as a Shop Steward in 1975. He served on the
Local union's Executive Board from 1978 to 1981, and as
President of the Local from 1981 to 1985, where he
negotiated several gain-filled contracts as a Local
officer.
He also served as a Trustee for the Bucks County AFL-CIO
from 1981 to 1984, and Vice President of that
organization from 1984 to 1997.
O'Brien's success as a Local officer gained him
recognition in the International Union as a talented,
hardworking advocate for the membership. In 1983, then
International President William Lindner appointed
O'Brien an International Organizer and sent him to
Dallas to begin organizing a series of regional commuter
airlines--then a growing trend in the airline industry
as a result of deregulation.
Along with fellow organizers Tim Grandfield (now TWU
Organizing Director), Paul Gaynor and the late Herman
Leonard, O'Brien organized a number of these regional
carriers that eventually became American Eagle. He
subsequently helped organize many more workers employed
by school districts and municipalities in New Jersey and
Georgia.
O'Brien also defeated raids by rogue unions on TWU Local
225 Branch 4 members and TWU Railroad Division Local
1460 on-board service workers at Amtrak.
After the organizing victories, O'Brien was promoted to
International Representative and assigned to the
Transit, Utility, University and Service Division. He
built up a reputation as a tough and savvy negotiator
and was elevated to Vice President in 1993. He was named
Division Director in 1997.
O'Brien was unanimously elected TWU's International
Executive Vice President in February 2003 by the TWU
International Executive Council.
Through the years, the new TWU President has helped
Local leaders negotiate more than 100 contracts for
transit properties, municipalities, school districts,
universities and utilities. He also led a highly
publicized strike of women food service workers against
the mighty anti-union Marriott Corporation.
O'Brien has worked on numerous political campaigns for
TWU-endorsed candidates across the country; served as a
delegate to the International Transport Workers
Federation (ITF) in Florence, Italy, and served as a
Trustee to the Local 223 Pension Fund in Omaha,
Nebraska.
He is a veteran of the United States Army 2nd Infantry
Division from 1968-1970, and is the father of 5
children.
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