THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 30 — New York’s own Larry Hanley, well known here as the combative President of ATU Local 726 on Staten Island, has been elected to the top job at the Amalgamated Transit Union, America’s largest union of transit workers. The vote in favor of Hanley over incumbent Ronald Heintzman was announced shortly after 1 PM at the ATU International Convention in Orlando, Florida. Taking the gavel as the ATU’s ninth International President, Hanley is expected to continue his aggressive national campaign to raise the profile of mass transit as an essential service and obtain more federal funding for bus, schoolbus, subway, light rail, paratransit, and rail operations across the United States. At the time of his run for office, Hanley was serving as a ATU International Vice President assigned to bargain and negotiate contracts for local unions across the United States.

Hanley was a driving force behind the creation of New York State’s Working Families Party in 1988 and helped get Hilary Clinton elected as a U.S. Senator from New York. His advocacy for mass transit in the state led to increases in both bus runs and members on Staten Island, doubling the size of Local 726 between 1979 and today. His candidacy was endorsed by LaborPress in August.