Commentary
NEW DEADLINE
ZMI 2010
Z Staff
IN MEMORIAM
Tim Costello
Various Contributors
IN MEMORIAM
Dennis Brutus
Patrick Bond
SPOTLIGHT
Coup Review
Dawn Paley
SPOTLIGHT
Truth-lite in Honduras
Andres Conteris
FOG WATCH
Nation-Buster
Edward Herman
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Morales & Movements
Tanya Kerssen
CONSERVATIVE WATCH
Tea Party
Bill Berkowitz
EYES RIGHT
Producerism
Chip Berlet
Activism
ANNIVERSARY ACTIVISM
Gaza March
Eileen Fleming
LABOR NOTES
Laborers & Worker Centers
Tiffany Ten eyck
OCCUPATIONS
California Students
Kate Maich
Features
LABOR TODAY
Undocumented
David Bacon
INTERVIEW
Radical Labor
Diane Krauthamer
GREEN TIDE
Copenhagen
Anne Petermann
ECONOMIC POLICY
Prelude to Depression?
Jack Rasmus
COVERT PROGRAM
PRTs & the CIA
Douglas Valentine
WINESS TO WAR
Strong Enough
Craig Reinbold
LOOKING FORWARD
Democratic Alternatives
Various Contributors
Culture
BOOK REVIEW
Fellman's Terrorism History
Jeremy Kuzmarov
BOOK REVIEW
Engler's Black Book
Tamara Lorincz
Zaps
FREE LISTINGS
Zaps - 02-10
Various Contributors
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Tim Costello, 1945-2009
Tim Costello, an architect of innovative strategies for the labor movement and the author of numerous articles and books on labor and globalization, died at home on December 4, 2009 of pancreatic cancer.
Costello was born in Boston on June 13, 1945 to Thomas and Claire (MacPhee) Costello and raised in Dedham, Massachusetts. As a teenager he worked with his father as a construction laborer and learned from him the value of worker organization, often typing the correspondence of the Brotherhood of Railway Carmen, the union for which his father served as president for many years.
As a young man, Costello went to work as a fuel oil delivery driver and became active in the Teamster's union and the union reform movement. Always an avid reader and writer, he set up an office in the back of his truck where he spent many hours in self-education. He also studied at Goddard College in Vermont, the New School in New York, and the University of Massachusetts-Boston, from which he graduated. He gradually came to be recognized in the Boston area as an unusual combination of worker and intellectual. In his book Taking History to Heart, James Green described Costello as "Cosmic" Tim, who "seemed to have trucked everywhere and read everything."
In 1973, Costello took a research trip across the country studying the impact of that recession on young workers. The result was the book Common Sense for Hard Times co-authored with labor historian Jeremy Brecher. Costello and Brecher continued as collaborators for the next 40 years.
Costello's lifelong work in the labor movement included work as a union representative for Local 285 of the Service Employees International Union, as well as positions with the Commonwealth Institute and Campaign for Contingent Work. He became convinced of the importance of labor cooperation with other social movements and edited, with Brecher, Building Bridges: The Emerging Coalition of Labor and Community.
In the 1990s, Costello became acutely aware of the growth of contingent work and the elimination of secure jobs that had been the mainstay of working class lives and communities. In response he helped organize and served as coordinator of the North American Alliance for Fair Employment, a network of 65 unions and community-based organizations in the U.S. and Canada, including groups as diverse as college teachers and day laborers.
Costello also became increasingly concerned with the impact of globalization on workers and the labor movement. He authored two books on the subject, Global Village or Global Pillage? with Brecher and Globalization from Below with Brecher and Brendan Smith, a policy analyst and labor activist. He also co-produced the Emmy-nominated documentary Global Village or Global Pillage?
In 2005, Costello left the North American Alliance for Fair Employment to found the international network-building organization Global Labor Strategies, which he ran in collaboration with Brecher and Smith. He travelled extensively to Europe, Latin America, India, and China, helping link labor movements and their allies to better address the problems they faced in a globalizing economy.
Long a committed environmentalist, Costello was a founder of the organization Save Open Spaces on Cape Ann, where he lived for many years and worked intermittently. In 2009, he helped found the Labor Network for Sustainability.
A lifelong resident of the Boston area, Costello was a well-known figure in the Boston labor movement, including not only the Teamsters and Service Employees, but also with Jobs with Justice, the Harvard Trade Union Program, and the College of Public and Community Service at the University of Massachusetts at Boston.
Z
Memorial culled from Global Labor Strategies and other websites.
Z Magazine Archive
Announcements
CUBAN 5 - From May 30 to June 5, supporters of the Cuban 5 will gather in Washington DC to raise awareness about the case and to demand a humanitarian solution that will allow the return of these men to their homeland.
Contact: info@thecuban5.org; info@thecuban5.org.
BIKES - Bikes Not Bombs is holding its 24th annual Bike- A-Thon and Green Roots Festival in Boston, MA on June 3, with several bike rides, music, exhibitors, and more.
Contact: Bikes Not Bombs, 284 Amory St., Jamaica Plain, MA 02130; 617-522-0222; mailbikesnotbombs.org; www.bikesnotbombs.org.
LEFT FORUM - The 2013 Left Forum will be held June 7-9, at Pace University in NYC.
Contact: 365 Fifth Avenue, CUNY Graduate Center, Sociology Dept., New York, NY 10016; http://www.leftforum.org/.
VEGAN FEST - Mad City Vegan Fest will be held in Madison, WI, June 8. The annual event features food, speakers, and exhibitors.
Contact: 122 State Street, Suite 405 B, Madison, WI 53701; madcityveganfest@gmail.com; http://veganfest.org/.
ADC CONFERENCE - The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) holds its annual conference June 13-16 in Washington, DC, with panel discussions and workshops.
Contact: 1990 M Street, Suite 610, Washington, DC, 20036; 202-244-2990; convention @adc. org http://convention.adc.org/.
CUBA/SOCIALISM - A Cuban-North American Dialog on Socialist Renewal and Global Capitalist Crisis will be held in Havana, Cuba, June 16-30. There will be a 5-day Seminar at the University of Havana, plus visits to a co-op and educational and medical institutions.
Contact: cuba@globaljusticecenter.org; http://www.globaljustice center.org/.
NETROOTS - The 8th Annual Netroots Nation conference will take place June 20-23 in San Jose, CA. The event features panels, trainings, networking, screenings, and keynotes.
Contact: 164 Robles Way, #276, Vallejo, CA 94591; registration@netrootsnation.org; http://www.netrootsnation.org/.
MEDIA - The 15th annual Allied Media Conference will be held June 20-23, in Detroit.
Contact: 4126 Third Street, Detroit, MI 48201; http://alliedmedia.org/.
GRASSROOTS - The United We Stand Festival will be hosted by Free & Equal, June 22 in Little Rock, Arkansas. The festival aims to reform the electoral process in the U.S.
Contact: http://freeandequal.org/
LITERACY - The National Association for Media Literacy Education (NAMLE) will hold its conference July 12-13 in Los Angeles.
Contact: 10 Laurel Hill Drive, Cherry Hill, NJ 08003; http://namle.net/conference/.
IWW - The North American Work People’s College will take place July 12-16 at Mesaba Co-op Park in northern Minnesota. The event will bring together Wobblies from across the continent to learn skills and build one big union.
Contact: http://workpeoplescollege.org/.
PEACESTOCK - On July 13, the 11th Annual Peacestock will take place at Windbeam Farm in Hager City, WI. The event is a mixture of music, speakers, and community for peace. Sponsored by Veterans for Peace.
Contact: Bill Habedank, 1913 Grandview Ave., Red Wing, MN 55066; 651-388-7733; billhabedank@yahoo.com; http://www. peacestockvfp.org.
LA RAZA - The annual National Council of La Raza (NCLR) Conference is scheduled for July 18-19 in New Orleans, with workshops, presentations, and panel discussions.
Contact: NCLR Headquarters Office, Raul Yzaguirre Building, 1126 16th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20036; 202-785-1670; www.nclr.org.
ACTIVIST CAMP - Youth Empowered Action (YEA) Camp will have sessions in July and August in Ben Lomond, CA; Portland, OR; Charlton, MA. YEA Camp is designed for activists 12-17 years old who want to make a difference.
Contact: info@yeacamp.org; http://yeacamp.org/.


