[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 27 (Friday, February 18, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E263-E264]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       HONORING BENEDICT COZZI ON THE OCCASION OF HIS RETIREMENT

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ROSA L. DeLAURO

                             of connecticut

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, February 17, 2011

  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, it is with great pleasure that I rise today 
to join the many family, friends, and colleagues who have gathered to 
congratulate Benedict Cozzi as he retires after a career as an 
operating engineer and union leader that has spanned more than four 
decades. Ben has been a remarkable presence in Connecticut's labor 
movement and I, like so many others, consider myself fortunate to have 
benefitted from his knowledge and friendship.
  A native of New Haven, Connecticut, Ben entered Boston University 
after graduating from high school, but it would be the employment he 
found during his breaks from school where he would find his calling as 
an operating engineer and a member of the International Union of 
Operating Engineers Local 478. He soon left Boston University and spent 
the next twenty years operating the heavy machinery of the trade--
bulldozers, backhoes, graders, loaders, combination machines, and 
cranes on construction sites throughout Connecticut. It was hard but 
honest work that Ben enjoyed and he also became increasingly involved 
with Local 478, serving as the steward on many jobs.
  Ben has served on Local 478's Governing Board for more thirty years. 
He held the positions of Treasurer, Secretary, Referral Manager, and 
Business Agent for New Haven and Middlesex Counties before being 
elected Business Manager--the union's highest elected office and a 
position which he has held for the last decade. Through it all, and 
particularly as Business Manager, Ben has fought for the rights of 
thousands of Connecticut operating engineers, ensuring that they had 
jobs to go to, fair wages, safe work environments, and secure 
retirement benefits. His work has held to secure the economic viability 
of his members and their families.
  Ben's leadership in the labor movement extends far beyond Local 478. 
He has also served as President of both the Connecticut State Building 
and Construction Trades Council and the Building Construction Trades 
Council of New Haven as well as Co-Chair of the Connecticut 
Construction Labor-Management Council, and Vice President of the 
Connecticut AFL-CIO. His expertise has also been sought out by 
community boards that directly impact his ,membership including the New 
Haven Workforce Alliance and the Construction Workforce Initiative. Ben 
was also asked to sit on two state boards the Workers' Compensation 
Advisory Board and the Second Injury Fund Advisory Board.
  Ben has also dedicated countless hours to community service, 
volunteering his time and energies on behalf of a multitude of service 
organizations in our community. He has served as Chairman of the Board 
of Easter Seals Goodwill Industries, a Board Member of the Advocacy 
Council of Yale-New Haven Hospital as well as the Connecticut Yankee 
Council of the Boy Scouts of America. When a project needs a hands-on 
approach, Ben is the person you turn to. He assembled a team of 300 to 
participate in a walk to benefit the American Heart Association, 
volunteers to build Hannah's Dream--a playground for children with 
special needs, and has been responsible for coordinating Building 
Trades volunteers to construct the annual Easter Seal's Fantasy of 
Lights at Light House Point during the Christmas season. The impact of 
his community service on the lives of others is incalculable and we 
cannot thank him enough for all of the generosity and compassion he has 
shown to those in need.
  It is difficult to imagine what Local 478, the Building Trades, and 
our community will be like without Ben Cozzi. He has been a fixture in 
the labor movement and in our community for decades. Today, as he 
celebrates his retirement, I am proud to have this opportunity

[[Page E264]]

to extend my sincere thanks and appreciation to him for all of his good 
work. I have no doubt that even in his retirement, Ben Cozzi will 
continue to stay involved and make a difference. I extend my very best 
wishes to him, his wife, Elizabeth; his children, Jennifer and 
Christopher; as well as their grandchildren, John, Isabelle, and Diego 
for many more years of health and happiness.

                          ____________________