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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3Representatives wish to congratulate Lonnie Stephenson on
4being appointed International President of the International
5Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW); and
 
6    WHEREAS, Lonnie Stephenson was born and raised in Rock
7Island; and
 
8    WHEREAS, Lonnie Stephenson began his apprenticeship as an
9inside wireman in 1975 and was initiated into IBEW Local Union
10145 in 1976; and
 
11    WHEREAS, Lonnie Stephenson was very active in his local
12union early in his career, serving on several committees and
13being elected Vice-President in 1984 and President from 1987 to
141992; as President, he implemented many new initiatives within
15his local union, including forming an active community service
16committee, holding an annual blood drive, and getting the local
17union's building recognized as a Red Cross Disaster Center,
18which was utilized as such during flooding of the Quad-City
19area in 1997; he was appointed Assistant Business Agent in 1991
20and was elected Business Manager in 1996; as Business Manager,
21he was very aggressive in organizing and his membership grew
22from 700 members to over 1,100 during his tenure as Business

 

 

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1Manager; one of his proudest moments as Business Manager was
2when a nonunion electrician stopped in his office to ask how he
3could join the IBEW because it was too strong a union area and
4he had to travel for his employer to find work; and
 
5    WHEREAS, IBEW International President Edwin Hill
6recognized Lonnie Stephenson's dedication to the IBEW and
7appointed him as an International Representative assigned to
8the Sixth District on January 1, 2002; he was soon thereafter
9appointed the Organizing Coordinator for the Sixth District and
10then Administrative Assistant to then IBEW Sixth District IVP
11Joseph (Jeff) Lohman; and
 
12    WHEREAS, On September 1st, 2010, Lonnie Stephenson was
13appointed by President Hill as International Vice-President of
14the Sixth District; he was then elected to a 5-year term by the
15delegates at the IBEW's 38th International Convention held in
16Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada in 2011; and
 
17    WHEREAS, On May 27, 2015, Lonnie Stephenson was appointed
18International President of the IBEW effective June 1, 2015;
19therefore, be it
 
20    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
21NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
22congratulate Lonnie Stephenson on being appointed

 

 

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1International President of the International Brotherhood of
2Electrical Workers; and be it further
 
3    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
4presented to the Lonnie Stephenson as an expression of our
5esteem and respect.