Fra Noi Embrace Your Inner Italian
The Italian American Labor Council of Greater Chicago honored Ralph Affrunti on Oct. 13 at Alta Villa Banquets in Addison. (630-853-9052)
The following bio is provided by the organization.
Ralph Affrunti
Ralph Affrunti was elected president of the Chicago and Cook County Building and Construction Trades Council in February 2016. He started his apprenticeship in the Terrazzo Trade in the fall of 1989 with the Carpenters International Union. After finishing his three-year apprenticeship and becoming a journeyman, he was elected to the finance committee of Local 89T.
In 1992, Ralph was elected to the Executive Board of Local 89T. He also served as a trustee on the health & welfare and pension funds. In 1994, he took the position of apprenticeship instructor with his union and was elected to the position of vice president.
In May 1999, Ralph was elected business manager of Bricklayers Local 98T and served as business manager until June 2000, when Local 98 was merged into Ceramic Tile and Terrazzo Local 67. Ralph was appointed a business agent for Local 67 and served as Terrazzo apprentice coordinator at the local level.
In 2004, Ralph was appointed secretary-treasurer of Ceramic Tile and Terrazzo Local 67. He won two more elections at that position, and served as a trustee on the pension, health & welfare, annuity and apprenticeship funds.
In 2005, Ralph was appointed to the Bricklayers International Union’s Executive Council as a craft director for the Ceramic Tile and Terrazzo Trades represented in the United States and Canada. In February 2007, he became director of Ceramic Tile and Terrazzo for the Administrative Council No. 1 of Bricklayers in Chicago and its collar counties and was elected to the position of vice president of the council as well.
In 2012, Ralph was elected secretary-treasurer of the Chicago and Cook County Building Trades Council, and in 2016 Ralph was elected president of the council, which represents 24 trades unions and 100,000 members.
Ralph sits on the board of Chicago’s Infrastructure Trust Fund in the labor advisory position. He is co-chair of the Labor Advisory Board of Amalgamated Bank. He also is a director on the Italian American Labor Council and sits on the Choose Chicago Labor Advisory Board as well as Bank of Labor’s Advisory Board.
Ralph has been married to his wife, Debra, for 35 years. They have one son, Andrew, who graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Roosevelt University. Ralph and his family currently live in Homer Glen.
On the philanthropic front, Ralph is a passionate supporter of Misericordia-Heart of Mercy and the In Search of a Cure Golf Outing, which raise funds on behalf of autism research.
