[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 103 (Tuesday, June 18, 2024)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E647]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




HONORING ISMAEL RIVERA AS A DISTINGUISHED LEADER IN CENTRAL FLORIDA FOR 
                        CARIBBEAN HERITAGE MONTH

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. DARREN SOTO

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 18, 2024

  Mr. SOTO. Mr. Speaker, Ismael Rivera is a senior organizer for the 
International Amalgamated Transit Union. He assists transit workers in 
learning the importance of joining a union among all the great benefits 
the union brings. He organizes the unorganized workers throughout 
Central Florida who are looking for a voice. Ismael served as vice 
president of ATU Local 1596 in Orlando and then was later voted in to 
become the first Latino president of the local. In 2013, Ismael 
established the ATU Latino Caucus, where he organized Latino workers in 
the workplace to be a voice for the Latino community at large as well 
as in the workplace. Ismael served as the southeast representative for 
the ATU International Latino Caucus from 2013 to 2016 and then became 
the ATU International Latino Caucus president from 2016 to 2024.
  Ismael was a bus operator for 27 years from 1997 to 2004. He started 
his career in transit as a bus operator in New York City. Ismael than 
moved to Central Florida in January 2004 and continued his career as a 
bus operator with the Central Florida Regional Transit Authority for 
the past 20 years.
  In 2017, after Hurricane Maria hit the Island of Puerto Rico, Ismael 
shipped a 53-foot container filled with food, water, and necessities 
for the people on the southern part of the island--a small town in the 
mountains called Tibes. This was made possible with the assistance of 
ATU International who paid for the shipping of the container.
  Ismael served on the Central Labor Council in Central Florida from 
2013 to 2024. Ismael represents ATU on the national board for the Labor 
Council for Latin American Advancement. On this board, he engages with 
members dealing with immigration issues in the workplace and abroad. 
Ismael and his wife, Maira, have been married for 36 years and have 
three children, Jose, Christina, and Daniel, as well as 12 precious 
grandchildren.

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