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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3Representatives are pleased to congratulate the members of
4International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 702 on
5the occasion of the organization's 100th anniversary in 2011;
6and
 
7    WHEREAS, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers
8Local Union 702's rich history began in 1911, when a few men
9working in the electrical trade in and near Herrin realized
10that the time had come when those working in the electrical
11field in all of its branches should be respected and classed as
12a skilled craft of its own; on their own initiative, these men
13petitioned the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers
14for a charter and, at the Colombo Hall in Herrin, IBEW Local
15Union 702 was organized; the local's first officers were
16President James Hanks, Vice-President Lawrence Hundley,
17Financial Secretary T. D. Springs, Recording Secretary Ransom
18Little, and Treasurer George Bullard; and
 
19    WHEREAS, Local Union 702 has always been a progressive and
20organizing local union; the first recorded contract between
21Local Union 702 and a utility was dated January 31, 1917,
22between Local Union 702 and the Central Illinois Public Service
23Company; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, Beginning in 1919, the local began to expand;
2great effort was made in the organization field, starting with
3the absorption of Local Union 638 in Centralia; from this
4consolidation, Local Union 702 gained additional territory and
5numerous new members; Local Union 702 subsequently organized
6the Illinois-Iowa Power Company (now Illinois Power Company);
7and
 
8    WHEREAS, By 1944, Local Union 702's membership had reached
9approximately 2,600; after negotiations, a group of the
10membership split from Local Union 702 formed their own local to
11the north, Local Union 51; Local Union 702 subsequently started
12an organization program in the utility field; over the next
13several years, Local Union 702 obligated 365 members from the
14eastern division of the Central Illinois Public Service
15Company, 282 members of the Southern Indiana Gas and Electric
16Company in Evansville, Indiana, and 112 members of the Missouri
17Utility Company in Cape Girardeau, Missouri; in 1947, the
18membership of Local Union 1333 at Cape Girardeau, Missouri were
19transferred to Local Union 702; and
 
20    WHEREAS, By 1952, Local Union 702 had contracts with
21numerous organizations, including the Tri-County Electric
22Cooperative, Inc., the Scott New-Madrid Mississippi Electric
23Cooperative, the Egyptian Electric Cooperative Association,

 

 

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1Paulding Sign Company, Hanna Sign Company, the Neon Sign
2Company of Herrin, Inc., the Southern Indiana Gas and Electric
3Company, the Oil Field Electric Company, the Illinois Power
4Company, the Central Illinois Public Service Company, the City
5of Flora, the Missouri Utilities Company, the Board of Public
6Utility Commissioners of the City of Cairo, T. and D. Electric,
7the Illinois Commercial Telephone Company, the National
8Electric Contractors Association, L.E. Myers Construction
9Company, Southeastern Illinois Electric Cooperative, Inc., and
10the Illinois Cities Water Company; and
 
11    WHEREAS, Today, IBEW Local 702 continues the same standards
12of excellence its founding members committed to a century ago;
13therefore, be it
 
14    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
15NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
16we congratulate the members of International Brotherhood of
17Electrical Workers Local 702 on the occasion of the
18organization's 100th anniversary and wish them continued
19success and happiness in the future; and be it further
 
20    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
21presented to IBEW Local 702 as a symbol of our esteem and
22respect.