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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3Representatives are pleased to honor Keith Kelleher, former
4President of Service Employees International Union Healthcare
5Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Kansas, for his hard work and
6dedication, as he retires on September 14, 2018; and
 
7    WHEREAS, Keith Kelleher's early work in the Jesuit
8Volunteer Corps in Detroit in the early 1980s led him to make a
9lifelong commitment to organizing for social and economic
10justice; and
 
11    WHEREAS, Keith Kelleher served as President of the Service
12Employees International Union Healthcare Illinois, Indiana,
13Missouri, Kansas from its creation in April 2008 until April
142017; he has held the positions of Field Organizer, Lead
15Organizer, and Head Organizer of Legacy Local 880 since 1983
16and, prior to that, Head Organizer of United Labor Unions Local
17222 in Detroit, MI since 1980; and
 
18    WHEREAS, In his 39 years of work as a labor and community
19organizer, Keith Kelleher has pioneered the organization of
20fast food, home care, child care, and other low-wage workers,
21growing Legacy Local 880 from just seven members in 1983 to
22over 70,000 members by 2008; he grew SEIU HCIIMK from 83,000

 

 

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1members in 2008 to over 92,000 members by 2014 and won living
2wages and first-ever healthcare for tens of thousands of
3Illinois workers; and
 
4    WHEREAS, Keith Kelleher was the Field Director of the
5National SEIU's "Homecare Task Force" from 1996 until 1998; he
6traveled, researched, and housed visiting homecare workers in
7over ten states and began the work that led to the organization
8of hundreds of thousands of home care workers across the
9country; and
 
10    WHEREAS, Today, more than 600,000 home care and child care
11workers in more than 15 states across the country are united in
12SEIU, fighting for a better standard of living for themselves
13and their families, joining with nursing home and hospital
14workers to become a national movement for quality care and
15quality jobs; and
 
16    WHEREAS, Keith Kelleher was a founder and a leader in the
17National SEIU Homecare Council, composed of leaders from over
1815 local unions; and
 
19    WHEREAS, Keith Kelleher was a Board Member and then Vice
20President of the SEIU Illinois State Council which, during his
21years of service service, grew from 70,000 to over 120,000
22members; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, As an organizer, Keith Kelleher has been
2privileged to train hundreds of rank and file leaders and
3organizers throughout his career; and
 
4    WHEREAS, Keith Kelleher helped found the Helen Miller
5Member Education and Training Center (METC), which has trained
6thousands of home care and child care workers, as well as the
7SEIU HCIIMK Homecare and Childcare Health Trust Fund, which
8brought first-time health care to over 15,000 home care and
9child care workers; and
 
10    WHEREAS, Keith Kelleher was active in several grassroots
11organizing initiatives, including the Grassroots
12Collaborative, "Fight for $15" and "United Working Families";
13and
 
14    WHEREAS, Keith Kelleher was active in the "Chicago Jobs and
15Living Wage Campaign" and the "Big Box Living Wage Campaign"
16from the 1990s until the 2000s, which led to the increases in
17the Chicago and Illinois minimum wage and benefitted hundreds
18of thousands, if not millions, of Chicago and Illinois Workers;
19and
 
20    WHEREAS, In recognition of his historic accomplishments in
21organizing and with the labor movement, Keith Kelleher was

 

 

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1elected as an SEIU International Executive Board Vice President
2from June 2008 until 2017; therefore, be it
 
3    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
4HUNDREDTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
5congratulate Keith Kelleher on his hard work for Service
6Employees International Union Healthcare Illinois, Indiana,
7Missouri, Kansas and others, and we wish him the best as he
8retires from this position; and be it further
 
9    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
10presented to Keith Kelleher as an expression of our esteem and
11respect.