Robert Scardelletti, after 29 years as TCU-IAM National President, is retiring effective July 31, 2020. With 53 years of active membership, Scardelletti is also TCU’s longest serving president.
In a historic move that strengthened both organizations, Scardelletti in 2005 led the Transportation Communications Union’s (TCU) merger with the Machinists Union, creating the TCU-IAM. A member of the IAM’s Executive Council, Scardelletti has been an effective and inspiring labor leader on both the national and global stage.
“When Bob Scardelletti speaks, everyone listens,” said IAM General Vice President Sito Pantoja. “It doesn’t matter if the room has union members or Senators, has three people or three thousand, everyone recognizes Bob’s experience and respects his wisdom.”
Scardelletti began his rail career as a Yard Clerk with the New York Central Railroad in Cleveland, OH in 1967. After holding various TCU leadership positions, Bob was first elected TCU International President in 1991.
President Scardelletti has been a member of the AFL-CIO Executive Council, the International Transportation Workers Federation (ITF) Executive Board, and is the Chairman of the Cooperating Railway Labor Organizations (CRLO).
“Bob has been the leading figure in multi-union rail labor coalitions for decades,” said Pantoja. “The beneficiaries of his efforts to better people’s working lives extend far beyond just the TCU-IAM membership. He is a powerful leader, and the American labor movement is stronger because of Bob Scardelletti. I am proud to have called him my colleague. I am even prouder to call him my friend.”
