|
|
Type:
|
Resolution
|
Status:
|
Adopted
|
|
Intro date:
|
5/23/2018
|
Current Controlling Legislative Body:
|
|
|
Title:
|
Congratulations extended to Jorge Ramirez on retirement as president of Chicago Federation of Labor
|
|
Attachments:
|
1. R2018-506.pdf
|
OFFICE OF THE MAYOR
CITY OF CHICAGO
RAHM EMANUEL
MAYOR
May 23,2018
TO THE HONORABLE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CHICAGO
Ladies and Gentlemen:
I transmit herewith, together with Aldermen Laurino, Austin, Dowell, Hairston and others, a resolution honoring Jorge Ramirez on the occasion of his retirement as President ofthe Chicago Federation of Labor.
Your favorable consideration of this resolution will be appreciated.
Very truly yours,
Mayor
adopted by Tlie Glttj GoUttCtl
Gitu of Ghicaqo, Illinois
Aldermen Lauriito, Austin, Dowell, Hairstbn, Mitts, Harris, Sadlowskt Garza, O'Shea, Maldonado,
Reboyras, Burke, Ervin, Brookins, Munoz, Scott, Quinn, Pawar, Sposato, Cardenas, Osterman,
ipson, Zalewski, Burnett, O'Connor, Sawyer, Villegas, Solis, J, Moore and
jresented hy Mayor Rahm Emanuel qM May 23, 2018
Whereas , The Members of this Chamber are pleased to congratulate Jorge Ramirez on his tenure as president of the Chicago Federation of Labor ("CFL"), the third largest central labor council of the AFL-CIO, representing nearly 300 affiliated unions and half a million working men and women in Cook County, Illinois; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Ramirez attended St. Anthony High School Seminary in San Antonio1, Texas and received an athletic scholarship for football to the University of Texas at El Paso. At UTEP, Mr. Ramirez was a four-year letterman and graduated in 1993 with a double major in marketing and computer information systems. He subsequently earned his juris doctor degree from Chicago-Kent College of Law; and
WHEREAS, The son of Mexican immigrants, Mr. Ramirez understood the struggle that his father, Ruben Ramirez, a packinghouse worker in Chicago's Back of the Yards, neighborhood who rose from the shop.floor to the office of president.of United Food and. Commercial Workers ("UFCW") Local ! 00A, endured along with his.fellow workers to. unionize the packinghouses in the 1960s. As a child, Mr Ramirez occasionally stood with his father on picket lines, where he witnessed firsthand the strength that a collective voice gave to workers. That formative experience fueled his motivation to serve working men and women in organized labor; and
WHEREAS, In 1988, Mr. Ramirez earned his first union card through UFCW Local 100A, now Local 1546. An intelligent, dedicated and passionate young man, Mr. Ramirez worked his way up the ranks, where he was elected vice-president and ultimately served as executive director of Local 1546, before coming to the CFL in 2006; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Ramirez was elected secretary-treasurer of the CFL in 2006 and president of the CFL in 2010 and 2014. During his second term as president, Mr. Ramirez was appointed to a two-year term as a vice president on the national AFL-CIO Executive Council, helping to guide the daily work of the national federation, and he was elected to a second four-year term in 2017; and
WHEREAS, The CFL's first Latino President, Mr. Ramirez emphasized grassroots politics, and a focus on civic involvement and advocacy for union industries in Chicago, Cook County and throughout Illinois. During his eight-year tenure as president, Mr. Ramirez worked closely with Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the Chicago City Council to avert citywide layoffs, to reduce skyrocketing health insurance costs, to identify dedicated funding for all four city employee pension funds, to raise Chicago's minimum wage to $13-an-hour by 2019, to guarantee a living wage and labor peace for employees at Chicago's two airports, to promote an ordinance guaranteeing paid sick leave, to help enact an ordinance protecting hotel workers from sexual harassment and assault, to introduce the use of the U.S Employment Plan language in agency RFPs, to help negotiate an amicable agreement at McCormick Place between union labor and management, to help spur economic growth in the city as marked by a record number of union-operated cranes in 2017: and, most recently, to help build support for the $8.5 billion O'Hare International Airport expansion project, which is projected to create an additional 60,000 jobs in Illinois; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Ramirez gave generously of his time and talent to many local organizations and causes. He served as secretary-treasurer of the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority; as chairman of the Chicago Sports Commission; as vice-chairman of the board of directors of the Cook County Health and Hospitals System; as co-chairman of the Chicago Manufacturing Renaissance Council; and as a board member of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, Chicago Infrastructure Trust, Choose Chicago, Navy Pier, Inc., Mercy Home for Boys and Girls, Special Olympics Illinois, United Way of Metro Chicago, and Archdiocese of Chicago Office of Human Dignity and Solidarity, to name but a few; and
WHEREAS, Last year, as chairman of the board of managers for ST Acquisitions Holdings, Mr. Ramirez led a coalition of union and like-minded investors who purchased the Chicago Sun-Times, Chicago Reader, straightdope.com and Answers Media, where he distinguished himself by becoming the first Latino chairman of a major United States media corporation; now, therefore
BE IT RESOLVED, That we, the Mayor and Members of the City Council, assembled this twenty-third day of May, 2018, do hereby commend Jorge Ramirez for his many years of exemplary service to the working men and women of Chicago and our great State; and extend to him, his lovely wife, Cafrina, and their four young sons, our very best wishes for continued health, happiness, and prosperity in the years ahead; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to Jorge Ramirez as a token of our appreciation and esteem.
At
|