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92_HR0677
LRB9216137BHbh
1 HOUSE RESOLUTION
2 WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3 Representatives are proud to recognize significant events in
4 the lives of the citizens of the State of Illinois; and
5 WHEREAS, It has come to our attention that Thomas
6 Balanoff of Highland Park has been selected as the
7 Northeastern Illinois Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, annual
8 Person of the Year; and
9 WHEREAS, MR. Balanoff is the President of Local 1 Service
10 Employees International Union, which represents 35,000
11 janitors, security officers, building service, industrial,
12 and institutional workers; and
13 WHEREAS, After receiving his Master's Degree in Labor and
14 Industrial Relations from the University of Illinois in 1974,
15 Mr. Balanoff went to work immediately in the labor movement;
16 and
17 WHEREAS, Tom Balanoff was employed by the International
18 Association of Fire Fighters and the Allied Industrial
19 Workers' Union; his work during the early 1980s with the
20 Cement, Lime, Gypsum, and Allied Workers' Union led to his
21 groundbreaking work on innovative labor tactics as
22 alternatives to the strike; and
23 WHEREAS, Mr. Balanoff's new thinking and hard work were
24 noticed by the former President of the Service Employees
25 International Union (SEIU), John Sweeney, who hired him in
26 1988 as Research Director for the International Union; Mr.
27 Balanoff was soon promoted to SEIU's Senior Staff as the
28 Director of SEIU's Building Service Division, where he played
29 a crucial role in the historic Justice for Janitors campaigns
30 across the country; and
31 WHEREAS, In 1994, Mr. Balanoff came back to Chicago to
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1 become President of SEIU Local 73, where he stayed until
2 becoming President of SEIU Local 1 in November of 2000; and
3 WHEREAS, Mr. Balanoff serves as Co-Chair of Chicago Jobs
4 with Justice, a coalition of more than 50 community,
5 religious, and labor organizations; he is a founding member
6 of Chicago Metropolitan Sponsors and is on the Board of the
7 Anti-Defamation League and the Coalition for Better Health
8 Care; and
9 WHEREAS, Within the labor movement, Mr. Balanoff serves
10 as President of the SEIU Illinois Council, for all SEIU
11 locals in the Chicago area, and as a Vice President of the
12 Service Employees International Union; last year, Mr.
13 Balanoff was elected President of the Property Service
14 Section of Union Network International, representing over 40
15 building service unions from around the world; and
16 WHEREAS, Mr. Balanoff and his wife, Hetty, are the proud
17 parents of two children, Ben and Laura; and
18 WHEREAS, Mr. Balanoff will be honored as the Northeastern
19 Illinois Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, Person of the Year at
20 a dinner on March 23, 2002; therefore, be it
21 RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
22 NINETY-SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
23 we congratulate Thomas Balanoff for his inspiring leadership
24 and steadfast devotion to principle in over a quarter of a
25 century of representing the labor movement; and be it further
26 RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be sent
27 to Thomas Balanoff as an expression of our esteem.