Michael T. O'Brien (born 1949 or 1950) is an American former labor union leader. O'Brien worked as a school bus driver in Bristol Township, Pennsylvania from 1972, joining the

Transport Workers Union of America Transport Workers Union of America (TWU) is a United States labor union that was founded in 1934 by subway workers in New York City, then expanded to represent transit employees in other cities, primarily in the eastern U.S. This article disc ...

(TWU). He held various positions in his local union before becoming its president. In 1983, he began working full-time for the international union, as an organizer, and immediately began organizing workers at what became American Eagle. He later became the union's Transit Director, a vice president in 1993, and then executive vice president in 2003. In his various posts, he negotiated many contracts, and led a strike of food service workers at

Marriott International Marriott International, Inc. is an American multinational corporation, multinational company that operates, franchises, and licenses lodging brands that include hotel, residential, and timeshare properties. Marriott International owns over 37 ho ...

. In 2004, O'Brien was elected as president of the TWU. Under his leadership, the union's local 100 led the

2005 New York City transit strike 5 (five) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number, and cardinal number, following 4 and preceding 6, and is a prime number. Humans, and many other animals, have 5 digits on their limbs. Mathematics 5 is a Fermat pri ...

, which O'Brien refused to support. O'Brien was also elected as a vice-president of the

AFL-CIO The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) is a national trade union center that is the largest federation of unions in the United States. It is made up of 61 national and international unions, together r ...

. He retired in 2006, due to poor health.

References

Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American trade union leaders People from Bucks County, Pennsylvania Trade unionists from Pennsylvania Vice presidents of the AFL-CIO {{trade-unionist-bio-stub