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Labor History Society honors NEA at annual dinner |
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Wednesday, 07 November 2007 |
November 5, 2007
The Illinois Labor History Society announces the induction of President Reg Weaver President of the National Education Association into its Union of Hall of Honor for 2007. The ceremony took place on November 2, 2007 at the Awards Dinner held at the DoubleTree Hotel in Oakbrook, a suburb of Chicago. On hand were 300 cheering union members from all sectors of the Illinois labor movement, affiliated and unaffiliated with AFL-CIO.
Weaver, a teacher on leave from the Harvey, Ill schools, was president of the Illinois Education Association in 1983 when the Illinois Legislature passed the comprehensive
collective bargaining law. The law requires all public schools in Illinois to engage in collective bargaining with school employees.
Among the Dinner speakers were Mike Carrigan, President of the Illinois State AFL-CIO and Ken Swanson, President of the Illinois Education Association. The spokesman for the Chicago Federation of Labor was Secretary-Treasurer Jorge Ramirez.
Weaver, a native of Danville, Illinois, listened with delight as Danville’s Vice Mayor Terry Baldwin read a proclamation declaring November 2, to be Reg Weaver Day.
A second inductee was the legendary Ella Flagg Young, who began her teaching career in Chicago in 1862 as a 17 year-old. In 1909 at the end of a career lasting over 50 years, she was appointed Superintendent of Chicago Public School. Throughout her career she sought to advance the welfare of both child and teacher.
In 1915 the Board of Education, controlled by the business community, declared war on the Chicago Federation of Teachers by adopting a rule that prohibited teachers from membership in any labor organization. Superintendent Young publicly attacked the rule, defending the right of teachers to have a union. The Board then forced her to resign.
The plaque awarded to that valiant champion of teacher empowerment nearly 100 years ago was accepted by Helen Ramirez -Odell, chair of the Womens’ Rights Committee of the Chicago Teachers’ Union.
“The Illinois Labor History Society is proud to have provided this occasion for Illinois union people to break bread together and be reminded that Solidarity is what it’s all about,” says ILHS founder and President Emeritus Les Orear.
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