Full Text of HR0039 94th General Assembly
HR0039 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, The members of the House of Representatives of the | 3 |
| State of Illinois learned with regret of the death of Irving M. | 4 |
| Friedman on Tuesday, December 21, 2004; and
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| WHEREAS, Mr. Friedman was the son of immigrants from Poland | 6 |
| who were both garment workers in New York; he received a broad | 7 |
| liberal arts education from the City College of New York and | 8 |
| his law degree from New York University Law School in 1947; he | 9 |
| married Abigail Levin; and
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| WHEREAS, Mr. Friedman moved to Chicago from New York to | 11 |
| work for the National Labor Relations Board in Chicago; four | 12 |
| years later, he went into law practice in 1953 with Harold A. | 13 |
| Katz, who remained his law partner for half a century until Mr. | 14 |
| Friedman's passing; and
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| WHEREAS, Mr. Friedman dedicated his enormous talents and | 16 |
| energies to furthering the life and well being of the working | 17 |
| people of Illinois; he devoted more than half a century to | 18 |
| representing labor unions in manufacturing, in maritime and | 19 |
| longshoring, in education, in broadcasting, in the airlines | 20 |
| industry, and in government; he has been a frequent speaker to | 21 |
| legal, labor, and government groups; he served as Chair of the | 22 |
| Labor Law Committee of the Chicago Bar Association; and
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| WHEREAS, Mr. Friedman participated in some of the most | 24 |
| important labor litigation in the country, including taking on | 25 |
| organized crime and Outfit-connected union leaders; he | 26 |
| triumphed also over white supremacists in Memphis who had | 27 |
| sought to deny black workers their equal membership rights; he | 28 |
| helped free segments of the American labor movement from the | 29 |
| domination of communists; he fought for the rights of pregnant | 30 |
| workers and on their behalf won one of the largest recoveries | 31 |
| ever made in a case before the EEOC; his law practice was |
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| always devoted to protecting the rights of injured and disabled | 2 |
| workers throughout Illinois; Mr. Friedman played a pivotal role | 3 |
| in protecting the job rights of UAW workers in Caterpillar | 4 |
| plants around Illinois and the nation in which successful | 5 |
| litigation by the union played a critical role in the retention | 6 |
| of the job rights of thousands of Illinois workers; and
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| WHEREAS, Remembered as a true gentleman who always | 8 |
| represented his clients with the utmost class, Mr. Friedman had | 9 |
| a great sense of fairness and warmth; he gave love to everyone | 10 |
| he knew and never judged people by their income or profession | 11 |
| or color; and he was always truly respected by many of the top | 12 |
| management lawyers and law firms and government agencies who, | 13 |
| even though they were his adversaries in the courtroom, held | 14 |
| him in the highest professional regard and esteem; and
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| WHEREAS, Mr. Friedman was inducted into the Hall of Honor | 16 |
| of the Illinois Labor History Society and was also a Fellow of | 17 |
| the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers; he was a former | 18 |
| Labor Member of the Board of Review of the Illinois Department | 19 |
| of Labor, and he served as a member of the Governor's | 20 |
| Commission on Labor that charted the path to the adoption in | 21 |
| Illinois of the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act | 22 |
| (IELRA) and the Illinois Labor Relations Act (ILRA); and | 23 |
| WHEREAS, The passing of Irving M. Friedman has been deeply | 24 |
| felt by many, especially his wife, Abigail; his sons, Joey and | 25 |
| Danny; his daughter-in-law, Roxanne; his sister, Helen | 26 |
| Kaufman; and his three grandchildren, Jason, Sahara, and Max; | 27 |
| therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 29 |
| NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 30 |
| we mourn the passing of Irving M. Friedman, a man who will be | 31 |
| remembered for his monumental contributions to the development | 32 |
| of the public policy of Illinois into one that has favored |
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| collective bargaining, the rights of working people to organize | 2 |
| and to enjoy the fruits of their labors, and to be protected | 3 |
| from all forms of discrimination in employment; and we extend | 4 |
| our sincere condolences to his family, friends, and all who | 5 |
| knew and loved him; and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 7 |
| presented to his family as an expression of our deepest | 8 |
| sympathy.
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