Recognizing George Nee on His Retirement

Floor Speech

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Mr. MAGAZINER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the remarkable career of George Nee, a good friend, father, grandfather, and tireless advocate for working Rhode Islanders, who is retiring as the president of the Rhode Island AFL-CIO after four decades of service.

George has dedicated his life to improving the lives of working people and their families. At just 21 years old, he left college to work for the farm workers' union, helping to organize Boston's grape boycott in the late 1960s and the lettuce boycott of 1971.

He worked closely with renowned labor leader Cesar Chavez and saw firsthand how these boycotts improved the lives of workers. George then created an independent union of clerical workers, healthcare workers, and jewelry workers in 1976 that grew to more than 1,500 members.

In 1983, he joined the Rhode Island AFL-CIO, working his way up from staff representative to president in 2009, leading more than 80,000 union members across our State as the quintessential happy warrior on behalf of working people in Rhode Island.

In addition to the hundreds of fights for fair contracts, better wages, and better benefits, George boldly led the Rhode Island AFL-CIO in support of marriage equality and stood for commonsense gun safety laws.

It is a real honor to recognize my friend, George, and to congratulate him on his impactful and tremendous career.

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