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ATU Senior Organizer David Heller Appointed ATU Deputy Director of the Campaigns Department

ATU International President John Costa has named Senior Organizer David Heller as the new Deputy Director of the Campaigns Department. In his new role, Heller will assist our Locals on various campaigns and help to manage, develop, and train our organizers to lead successful campaigns under Campaigns Department Director Justin Panos.

“We welcome and congratulate David on his new role as Deputy Director of the Campaigns Department,” said Costa. “For almost a decade, David has done amazing work for our Locals and members in contract campaigns and new organizing initiatives. His expertise and dedication to the ATU, the labor movement, and the countless Locals and members he’s helped make him the right person for this position. His passion for our Union and the labor movement and his abilities will help build on the success of this department for the future.”

Heller started his career serving the public in 2012 as a Field Organizer for Louise Slaughter for Congress, where he led volunteers to successfully elect Slaughter to the 112th Congress. He then went on to work for the American Constitution Society for Law and Policy, one of the nation’s leading progressive legal organizations. In 2014, Slaughter tapped Heller again to serve as her campaign’s Field Coordinator, implementing the campaign’s successful field and GOTV plans, helping to re-elect Slaughter to the 113th Congress.

Since 2015, Heller has been an integral part of our ATU Campaigns Department, where he has designed and managed dozens of contract, electoral, disability justice, and racial justice campaigns that raised the wages of thousands of our members, stopped layoffs, won increases in transit funding, and expanded equity in public transit. Heller has played a key role in many successful campaigns for our Locals from his hometown in Rochester, NY, to Seattle, WA, to Washington, DC, and has fought on numerous strike lines from Martha’s Vineyard, MA, to Loudoun County, VA.

“I’m honored to work with International President John Costa and the GEB in this new role in the Campaigns Department. It’s been a privilege to serve this great Union and our members these past eight years and come out with many victories in the process. I’m looking forward to the battles and challenges that lie ahead,” said Heller.