Harrington’s daughter thanked the Local 1245 Advisory Council for honoring her father’s memory
When former IBEW 1245 Business Rep and Executive Board member Mickey Harrington passed away earlier this year, he left behind a legacy that will not soon be forgotten. A 40-year member of the union, Harrington’s tenacity and dedication to doing what’s right made a lasting impact on every member and leader who ever had the pleasure of making his acquaintance.
Harrington retired from the union staff in 1999, but stayed active for years after, attending Advisory Council meetings for as long as his body allowed him to. He remained a powerful presence in the California Labor Movement, serving many terms as President of the Butte-Glenn Central Labor Council – right up until the day he died.
He also ran for State Assembly several times in what many would consider to be one of the most anti-labor areas of the state. In his last election in 2010, he secured 34% of the vote, proving that even after his retirement from the union, he was still fighting to make a difference for working families in every way he could.
IBEW 1245 celebrated Harrington’s contributions to the union, the Labor Movement and all those he touched at the recent Advisory Council meeting. A few of Harrington’s friends and former colleagues came to pay tribute, and his daughter and grandson were in attendance as well.
Members of the Local 1245 Executive Board sign Harrington’s tribute poster
“If you cut his finger, he bled union. I never knew a greater unionist than Mickey,” said Business Manager Tom Dalzell said at the Advisory Council meeting. “He did not go gently into that night, he fought like he fought everything. He was a force in 1245 and the IBEW, and a force in the labor movement. It’s with a heavy but joyful heart that we remember Mickey and honor him and all that he gave us. He gave us everything.”
To ensure Harrington will not soon be forgotten, the Advisory Council and Executive Board members took the time to write their names and special memories on a poster filled with photos of Harrington, from his time as a young lineman right up until the months before he passed away. The poster will hang in the Local 1245 hall as a tribute to the “man with a heart of gold.”