Michael Costa (politician) - Early Life and Career

Early Life and Career

Costa was born in Newcastle to Greek Cypriot migrants who came to Australia in the 1950s. In 1979, Costa began work as a rigger at the Garden Island naval dockyard. It was there where he was first involved with the Australian labour movement becoming a Delegate for the Federated Ironworkers' Association (now Australian Workers' Union). During this period he also studied at night at the University of Sydney.

In 1983, Costa joined the NSW Railways and started work as a trainee engineman, but never progressed to a driver, and became active in the Australian Federated Union of Locomotive Enginemen (AFULE). At the time the AFULE had a militant leadership who began a series of strikes over differences with the Australian Railways Union, whereby brake vans were removed from goods trains, and the guards were given locomotive jobs. Preferential treatment of the guards was seen by many as a reward for not striking over the loss of their jobs in brake vans. This led to Costa running against the incumbent leadership of the union in the AFULE's elections which Costa won convincingly. In 1989, Costa was elected as an organiser with the Labor Council of New South Wales. In 1998, he was elected as Secretary of the Labor Council. He was the first Secretary to be of a non English speaking background.