Employee Of The Century

98-Year-Old Has Never Been Late, Called In Sick, Punched Out Early

(CBS)  It's 5 a.m., and Arthur Winston pulls into his parking space and clocks in, just as he has every workday for 70 years.

"They tell me I'm a workaholic," says Winston.

Winston, a cleaning supervisor at a Los Angeles bus yard, turned 98 this month. He's never been late, never called in sick and never punched out early.

"I just love to come to work here," he says.

It's the best work record the U.S. Labor Department has ever heard of, reports CBS News Correspondent Bill Whitaker.

And in the yard, where everyone calls him Mr. Winston, he's an inspiration.

"He loves his job," says his supervisor Alex DeNuzzo. "He loves what he does."

So what's his secret?

"I don't smoke, and I don't drink and I don't fool with these credit cards," he says.

"It's kind of like looking at history," says DeNuzzo.

He polished those values to near perfection since starting work here in 1934. Back when vast Los Angeles was tied together by electric trolleys, but divided by race. African-American transit workers had separate washrooms and few opportunities.

He wasn't allowed to be a mechanic, a bus driver or a streetcar operator, but could clean. So he did, through riots and earthquakes.

He did miss one day, the day he buried his wife of 65 years. His work ethic has won him countless awards, like one from former President Bill Clinton. Another award was given to Winston from the "Laker Girls."

But what puts the biggest smile of his face? All of the 15 bus yards in L.A. are identified by number, except one: the Arthur Winston Bus Division.

"This is my yard," he says.

Asked if he has any desire to retire, Winston says, "No, no, no, no."

Maybe when he's 100. Until then, he'll take it one day at a time.

"It's nice to walk out in the morning and say, 'Thank God. Let me see another day that I've never seen before. Just one,'" says Winston.

You've earned it Mr. Winston.