Tim Costello

Who was Tim Costello?

Timothy Mark "Tim" Costello was an American labor and anti-globalization advocate who started his career as a truck driver, driving fuel trucks and as a long-haul trucker. He was one of the founders of the North American Alliance for Fair Employment, a network of organizations opposed to the use of temporary workers.

Costello was raised in Dedham, Massachusetts. His father was president of a railway car welders union local. He graduated in 1964 from the Huntington School for Boys in Boston, before attending Goddard College, Franconia College and The New School, all without earning a degree. It wouldn't be until 1990 when he would ultimately earn his degree from the University of Massachusetts Boston.

He started driving oil trucks while in New York and continued to do so after returning to Boston in 1971. While in Boston, he shifted to long-haul truck driving and became a critic of corruption in the Teamsters union. After meeting labor historian Jeremy Brecher in 1973, the two co-authored the book Common Sense for Hard Times during the recession in the mid-1970s, using his travels around the country to document the economic downturn's effects on younger workers, often writing in the back of his truck; The two would collaborate for the next 35 years.