2025 -- H 5208

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LC000091

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2025

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H O U S E   R E S O L U T I O N

HONORING GEORGE NEE ON THE OCCASION OF HIS RETIREMENT AS PRESIDENT

OF THE RHODE AFL-CIO

     Introduced By: Representatives Shekarchi, Blazejewski, Corvese, Chippendale,
Speakman, Serpa, Spears, Donovan, Ajello, and Fellela

     Date Introduced: January 28, 2025

     Referred To: House read and passed

     WHEREAS, George Nee, widely regarded as the “face of labor” in the State of Rhode

Island, is retiring after four decades advocating for the rights and livelihood of our State’s

workers with the Rhode Island AFL-CIO; and

     WHEREAS, In the late 1960s, at the age of 21, Mr. Nee quit college to help coordinate

Boston’s grape boycott, soon followed by leading a lettuce boycott in 1971. Often sleeping on

office floors and in abandoned buildings, he worked to organize members of various local labor

movements, led marches, and grew his knowledge and convictions, serving as the driver and

bodyguard for Cesar Chavez, whom he later joined on a 40-day pilgrimage across southern

California to help organize farm workers; and

     WHEREAS, In 1976, Mr. Nee initiated an independent union of clerical workers,

healthcare workers and jewelry workers, which eventually rose to encompass more than 1,500

members and after merging with another union, established what is today known as the Service

Employees International Union, Local 1199; and

     WHEREAS, In 1983, Mr. Nee began as a staff representative for the AFL-CIO and soon

thereafter, became the Union’s Executive Director in 1985. In 1991, he was elected as Secretary-

Treasurer, and in 2009, he was ultimately elected President, a position he has held for the past 15

years and which is widely considered one of the most powerful political positions in Rhode

Island; and

     WHEREAS, Over the course of his tenure at the helm of the AFL-CIO, Mr. Nee has built

the currently 80,000-member union into “a force for economic and social justice for all the

workers” with a vision and belief that organized labor has the “right and responsibility” to

vigorously lobby and have a voice in every level of the government’s decisions; and

     WHEREAS, The Union encourages members to hold elected leaders accountable,

endorses candidates based on labor issues, mobilizes voter registration efforts, and supports and

promotes members' efforts to both run and assist in campaigns for political office at both the City

and State levels; and

     WHEREAS, Earning the respect and gratitude of Rhode Island’s leaders throughout his

career, Mr. Nee has earned a reputation as “a man of great character and principal” and leaves a

legacy as “an extremely effective advocate” who, when he “won a victory, it wasn’t just for the

AFL-CIO, it was for all working Rhode Islanders”; now, therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island hereby

recognizes George Nee on the occasion of his retirement as President of the Rhode Island AFL-

CIO, and thanks and acknowledges him for the enormous contributions he has made in improving

the lives of the people in our State. We furthermore wish him the very best of health and

happiness in the years to come; and be it further

     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to Mr. George Nee.

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