Bill Text: IL HR1198 | 2017-2018 | 100th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Congratulates Keith Kelleher on the occasion of his retirement.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2018-11-13 - Resolution Adopted [HR1198 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2017-HR1198-Introduced.html

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HOUSE RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
Representatives are pleased to honor Keith Kelleher, former
President of Service Employees International Union Healthcare
Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Kansas, for his hard work and
dedication, as he retires on September 14, 2018; and
WHEREAS, Keith Kelleher's early work in the Jesuit
Volunteer Corps in Detroit in the early 1980s led him to make a
lifelong commitment to organizing for social and economic
justice; and
WHEREAS, Keith Kelleher served as President of the Service
Employees International Union Healthcare Illinois, Indiana,
Missouri, Kansas from its creation in April 2008 until April
2017; he has held the positions of Field Organizer, Lead
Organizer, and Head Organizer of Legacy Local 880 since 1983
and, prior to that, Head Organizer of United Labor Unions Local
222 in Detroit, MI since 1980; and
WHEREAS, In his 39 years of work as a labor and community
organizer, Keith Kelleher has pioneered the organization of
fast food, home care, child care, and other low-wage workers,
growing Legacy Local 880 from just seven members in 1983 to
over 70,000 members by 2008; he grew SEIU HCIIMK from 83,000

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

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

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