He was one of the founders of the North American Alliance for Fair Employment (NAAFE), a network of organizations opposed to the use of temporary workers.
While in Boston, he shifted to long-haul truck driving and became a critic of corruption in the Teamsters union.
[1] After meeting labor historian, Jeremy Brecher, in 1973, the two co-authored the book Common Sense for Hard Times during the recession in the mid-1970s, using his travels around the country to document the economic downturn's effects on younger workers, often writing in the back of his truck; The two would collaborate for the next 35 years.
[1] His 2000 book, Globalization From Below: The Power of Solidarity, was described by The New York Times as "a primer for labor advocates who argued that globalization was destroying jobs and reducing wages in the United States while exploiting workers in Asia".
[1] Tim Costello died at age 64 on December 4, 2009 of pancreatic cancer at his home in Cambridge, Massachusetts.