Elliott grew up in Philadelphia, where he became a truck driver, and an organizer for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.
He then moved to work on the city's streetcars, joining the Amalgamated Association of Street, Electric Railway and Motor Coach Employees of America, which he twice tried unsuccessfully to organize for the union.
Elliott secured legislation to protect union members rights during the transition.
He also led campaigns for exact fare schemes, which meant that drivers did not have to carry change, reducing the number of robberies they faced.
[3] He also served on the executive board of the International Transport Workers' Federation from 1962,[1] and that year, he was the AFL-CIO delegate to the British Trades Union Congress.