Harry Lombardo has retired as international president of the Transport Workers Union and from his position on the Executive Council of the AFL-CIO.
Lombardo started out as a bus cleaner in 1972 in Philadelphia, where he rose through the ranks of TWU Local 234 and eventually led a powerful 14-day strike in 1995. He gained a reputation as a tough negotiator, and as an opponent of privatizing and outsourcing. Lombardo was elected TWU president in 2013 and joined the AFL-CIO Executive Council in February 2014. He served on the International Affairs Committee, the Organizing Committee and the Legislation/Policy Committee.
As international president, Lombardo sought to restructure TWU to give more control to local unions, and to apply more resources to plan and carry out organizing campaigns. He also put TWU’s muscle behind the merger of American Airlines and US Airways as part of his fight to protect the jobs of tens of thousands of airline maintenance workers.
The AFL-CIO Executive Council thanks Harry Lombardo for his service and wishes him a long and healthy retirement.