Fra Noi Embrace Your Inner Italian
The Italian American Labor Council honored one of its own as Man of the Year on Oct. 3 at Alta Villa Banquets in Addison.
This year’s honoree was IALC President Emeritus Joseph Serpico.
Serpico is a Past President of Local 1031 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and the retired Union Services Vice President of the Amalgamated Bank of Chicago.
Joe’s father, a member of the Railroad Workers Union for 42 years, first introduced him to organized labor. Joe was a member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 1031, since his employment in 1965 at the Rauland Division of Zenith Electronics Corp.
Joe served our country as a member of the Armed Forces in 1968 and 1969, where he was promoted to the rank of Sergeant during 18 months of service.
He has Labor and Electronics Certificates from Triton College, Central Texas College, Cornell University and the University of Illinois.
As a member of I.B.E.W. Local 1031, Joe held the positions of Department Steward, Chief Steward, and Secretary of the Executive Board, becoming a full-time Business Representative in 1987. In 1989, he was elected President and held the position until 2005.
In that capacity, he represented his local as a delegate to the International Convention, the I.B.E.W. State Conference, the Illinois State AFL-CIO and the Chicago Federation of Labor.
Joe joined Amalgamated Bank of Chicago in November 2005 as Vice President, Relationship Manager. He was part of the team that delivered state of the art banking services and products to Union customers. He retired in January 2014.
Joe was an active member of the A. Philip Randolph Institute, Jobs for Justice, the Hispanic American Labor Council, and the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement.
In 1989, Joe became a member of the Italian American Labor Council. As a member of the IALC, he has held the positions of Director and Vice President. Having the full support and recommendation of the Board of Directors, Joe was unanimously elected as President of the IALC in January of 1998.
He is the first President to hold the office for four consecutive terms and is now a President Emeritus.
Currently, Joe is keeping busy as a labor liaison for the law firm of Goldberg Weisman & Cairo. Joe is married to Carol, his wife of 45 years, and has two grown married children, Joe and Tricia. Joe also has six grandchildren, Nicholas, Gianna, Marisa, Michael, Andrew and Joey.
