[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 30 (Thursday, March 9, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E331]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page E331]]
               ARTHUR WINSTON ``EMPLOYEE OF THE CENTURY''

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. DIANE E. WATSON

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 9, 2006

  Ms. WATSON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a great American and 
my constituent, Mr. Arthur Winston. This year Mr. Winston will mark 
over three quarters of a century as an employee of the transportation 
agencies that have made Los Angeles County's buses and trains move 
millions of people a year. In fact, since Mr. Winston began his 
employment with the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation 
Agency's (Metro) predecessor agencies in 1924, millions of people have 
been safely delivered on billions of trips across Los Angeles County. 
Arthur can and should be proud to have been an important part of the 
historic growth of mass transit in California's 22nd Congressional 
District, which I proudly represent, and throughout the rest of Los 
Angeles County.
  Arthur Winston was born in Okemie, Oklahoma on March 22, 1906 before 
Oklahoma was officially recognized as a state. He and his family moved 
to Los Angeles in 1918, when Arthur was 12. His father found work in 
the maintenance department for one of Metro's predecessors, the Pacific 
Electric Railway Company. Arthur attended Jefferson High School in 
Southern California, graduating in 1922.
  Arthur Winston was 28 years old when he started his remarkable 72 
years of continuous work at Metro. If you account for the years he 
spent, beginning at age 15, helping his father at the Pacific Electric 
Railway Company, Arthur has worked a remarkable 76 years for Los 
Angeles transit agencies. Mr. Winston was first employed by Metro's 
predecessor agency in December 1924 and worked until mid-1928. He 
resumed his employment with the agency in January of 1934. Amazingly, 
Arthur has missed only one day of work in 76 years, having taken a day 
off on the day of his wife's death in 1988.
  In 1996, Arthur Winston received a Congressional Citation from 
President Clinton as ``Employee of the Century.'' In his more than 
seven decades of Metro employment, Arthur has received many honors for 
his work ethic and longevity on the job. In 1997 Metro's Board of 
Directors named the agency's bus operating division in South Central 
Los Angeles (Chesterfield Square) after him. He has also appeared on 
the Oprah Winfrey television show and has appropriately been honored by 
a large number of community and civic organizations in Los Angeles 
County.
  At the Arthur Winston Division, Arthur is a service attendant leader, 
directing a crew of 11 employees who clean, maintain, and refuel 240 
Metro buses before they go out onto city streets. Remarking about his 
longevity at Metro, Arthur had this to say, ``I stayed with Metro 
through all these years because I felt comfortable here. After a 
certain age I decided to stay on the job until I'm 100 years old.''
  Arthur Winston turns 100 on March 22, 2006 and has announced his 
retirement from Metro, quite fittingly, on his birthday. In the 
meantime, Arthur will spend his remaining days on the job waking up at 
his usual time, 4 a.m., and driving his 1994 Toyota sedan to work.
  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to join Los Angeles Metro in saluting 
Arthur Winston and his unparalleled work ethic. May Arthur Winston's 
long record of public service serve to inspire Americans, young and 
old, to dedicate their energy and intellect for the benefit of the 
general public.

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