[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 135 (Wednesday, October 25, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1920]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      IN HONOR OF JOHN F. HENNING

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. NANCY PELOSI

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, October 25, 2000

  Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to one of organized 
labor's greatest leaders on the occasion of his 85th birthday. John F. 
``Jack'' Henning has had a long and distinguished career on the 
frontlines of the labor movement, fighting passionately for justice, 
equality, and human rights here and around the world. It is my 
privilege to commend and thank him for his lifetime of leadership.
  Jack Henning was born in San Francisco in 1915 to hard-working 
parents of modest means. Hardworking himself, he graduated from St. 
Mary's College with a degree in English literature. In 1938, he started 
working with the Association of Catholic Unionists in San Francisco and 
began his steady climb within the labor movement. By 1949, he was 
working for the California Labor Federation, the official AFL-CIO 
organization for California, as a senior staff member, and in 1970, the 
Federation selected him as Executive Secretary-Treasurer. He held that 
position until 1996.
  In addition to his service with the California Labor Federation, Jack 
served the cause of organized labor from within the halls of 
government. From 1959-1962, he served as the Director of the California 
State Department of Industrial Relations. He then served in the Kennedy 
and Johnson administrations as the U.S. Under Secretary of Labor. In 
these positions and afterward as an advocate, he worked consistently 
for justice and fair treatment of workers. He was instrumental, for 
example, in securing organizing rights for California's farm workers, 
in preventing restaurants from counting tips as wages under minimum 
wage laws, and in encouraging the labor movement to take strong stands 
for civil rights.
  Jack has served on the Board of Regents of the University of 
California, where he fought to divest the University's holdings in 
South Africa under apartheid, and the Board of Trustees of St. Mary's 
College. He has sat on San Francisco's Public Welfare Commission and 
the Fair Employment Practices Commission and was the U.S. ambassador to 
New Zealand from 1967-1969.
  In 1999, the University of California at Berkeley's Center for Labor 
Research and Education created the John F. Henning Center for 
International Labor Relations in recognition of his tremendous 
contributions to the labor movement. The Henning Center focuses on 
strategies for global unionism and the impact of globalization on 
workers around the world. Jack was also named Distinguished Labor 
Leader in Residence at the University of California's Institute of 
Industrial Relations.
  Jack Henning has been an unfailing voice on behalf of the working 
women and men of the United States and of the world. We are all 
indebted to his leadership.
  It is my honor to join his seven children, John Junior, Brian, 
Patrick, Nancy, Daniel, Thomas, and Mary, and his many friends and 
colleagues in wishing him a Happy Birthday.

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