Local 71 congratulated long time Northern Region employee, member, and friend, Bonnie Sullivan on her well earned retirement on August 1st, after 33 years of exemplary service. Bonnie will be greatly missed by Local 71, our members, and employers.
Dennis Moen captured our thoughts best in his letter below:
July 31, 2018
Dear Bonnie,
It is my honor to congratulate you on your retirement and express my sincere appreciation and thanks for your vital lead in our PE Local 71 Northern Region team. During my tenure as the Northern Region Business Representative, PE Local 71 President, then Business Manager for Local 71 and Alaska District Council of Laborers, it has been a pleasure and an education to work with you. Your experience, compassion, and dedication to PE Local 71 is a treasure for us all.
Anyone hired in the Northern Region of Alaska through PE Local 71 in the last 33 years knows that chances are they were dispatched by Bonnie Sullivan. Since 1985, thousands of Local 71 members have had their lives enriched by you through job referrals, employment coaching, career enhancement, and just good ole fashioned “mothering”.
Your wealth of expertise has been renowned. Anyone who needed information in the Northern Region was chanting “just call Bonnie”, long before “just Google it” was the catch phrase. No matter what the subject: new recruits hoping for work, new employees wondering about Union Rights, new parents worried about health care coverage, or retirees eager to show off grand kids, you’ve been there.
When asked about your favorite part of the job, your answer was always quick: “The people, our members, are the best!” Your commitment to the members has shone through your work every day. Robert South said, If there be any truer measure of a woman than by what she does, it must be by what she gives.
I know I speak for all Local 71 members when I say, “Thank you Bonnie, we appreciate the skill, dedication and passion you have given all Local 71 members and families.”
Dennis J. Moen,
Business Manager Secretary-Treasurer of
Public Employees Local 71 and
Alaska District Council of Laborers
