Full Text of HR0609 102nd General Assembly
HR0609 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, Working conditions for construction and | 3 | | stationary workers in the late 1800s were appalling; their | 4 | | wages for 60-to-90-hour work weeks were equally miserable, and | 5 | | benefits were practically non-existent; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, In an effort to change those conditions, eleven | 7 | | pioneering individuals met in Chicago on December 7, 1896 to | 8 | | form the National Union of Steam Engineers of America; and
| 9 | | WHEREAS,
A year later, the first Canadian workers joined | 10 | | the fledgling union; to reflect this expansion across the | 11 | | border, the union's name was changed to the International | 12 | | Union of Steam Engineers; and
| 13 | | WHEREAS, Members of the union flocked to San Francisco to | 14 | | rebuild that majestic city after it was turned to rubble in the | 15 | | earthquake of 1906; thousands of operating engineers also | 16 | | moved mountains in the next few years while digging the Panama | 17 | | Canal; and | 18 | | WHEREAS, As steam-driven construction became widespread | 19 | | across the U.S., more and more construction workers joined, | 20 | | and the union changed its name at its 1912 convention to | 21 | | reflect this new composition in the first decade of the new |
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| 1 | | century, becoming the International Union of Steam and | 2 | | Operating Engineers; and
| 3 | | WHEREAS, As members began working with internal combustion | 4 | | engines, electric motors, hydraulic machinery, and | 5 | | refrigerating systems as well as steam boilers and engines, | 6 | | the word "steam" was dropped from the union's name, and in | 7 | | 1928, it became the International Union of Operating Engineers | 8 | | (IUOE); and
| 9 | | WHEREAS, As the organization progressed, it attracted | 10 | | workers from the public sector, making it a truly diverse | 11 | | trade union; and
| 12 | | WHEREAS, Passage of the Davis-Bacon Act of 1931, which | 13 | | guaranteed construction workers' wage rates on federally | 14 | | financed projects, helped the union weather the after-effects | 15 | | of the Great Depression and maintain its progress; and
| 16 | | WHEREAS, IUOE would later see thousands of its members | 17 | | contribute to America's war efforts as members of the U.S. | 18 | | Navy's Seabees; the Seabees were skilled construction men who | 19 | | built bases, airfields, and roads in war zones, including the | 20 | | beaches of Europe, the DMZ of Korea, and the jungles of | 21 | | Vietnam; and
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, IUOE's growth and progress was fueled greatly at | 2 | | the end of World War II when the Federal Highway Trust Program | 3 | | came into existence, creating thousands of jobs for operating | 4 | | engineers; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, In the following decades, the union persevered | 6 | | through boom times and lean times and is still going strong | 7 | | today; and
| 8 | | WHEREAS, Projects that are critical to Illinois' | 9 | | commercial, education, transportation, health, energy, and | 10 | | logistics systems are built by and are monuments to the skills | 11 | | of the members of the IUOE; and
| 12 | | WHEREAS, IUOE is building a better tomorrow for its | 13 | | members and all American and Canadian citizens, and Illinois | 14 | | plays an important role in the leadership of the organization; | 15 | | James M. Sweeney, local 150 President-Business Manager, is the | 16 | | General Secretary Treasurer of the IUOE, serving in the second | 17 | | highest office in the International Union; in addition, | 18 | | operating engineers have been vocal supporters of | 19 | | infrastructure modernization and currently work statewide on | 20 | | projects funded by the Rebuild Illinois capital plan; | 21 | | therefore, be it
| 22 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE |
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| 1 | | HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 2 | | we congratulate the International Union of Operating | 3 | | Engineers, Local 150 on its 125-year anniversary; and be it | 4 | | further
| 5 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 6 | | presented to IUOE, Local 150 as a symbol of our esteem and | 7 | | respect.
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