Lonnell Saffold

Security Division Director, Recording Secretary 

Lonnell Saffold was born and raised on the Southside of Chicago in Englewood to a hardworking union family. His father was a UFCW Local 500 P card-carrying member and his great-grandfather worked for the Longshoremans.

Lonnell grew up seeing how the labor movement supports working families like his own. From an early age, he got first-hand experience in the civil rights and racial justice movements of the early 70s by watching his father and grandfather attend many union and community rallies to address racial injustice in Chicago.

He first got involved with SEIU Local 1 in 1993 as a rank and file Janitor working at the historic Hampton House, where Chicago’s first Black mayor Harold Washington once lived. His union rep saw Lonnell’s talent and asked him if he wanted to get involved with union organizing. His first campaign was organizing Chicago Housing Authority tenants who were being hired through a federal training program. In seven months, Lonnell signed up over 1,000 new members and after this success, he was quickly offered a job with SEIU Local 1 as a residential union rep for the Chicago Housing Authority.

Thus started what has now been an over 25-year-long career with SEIU Local 1 and during that time, Lonnell has held a wide variety of roles and been a part of countless campaigns. Currently, Lonnell is the Security Division DDirector as well as the SEIU Local 1 Recording Secretary. He also sits on the SEIU IL State Council and on the Health and Welfare Pension Fund. Previously, he worked as the Institutional Director, a Grievance Rep in the Commercial Division and was one of the founders of the SEIU Local 1 Training Fund. He’s worked in all facets of union organizing, from representing different divisions to negotiating numerous contracts, adjudicating grievances, and arbitrations, and facilitating many NLRB elections. To him, each contract, whether large or small, is a big victory because it means that another working family has an opportunity to lift themselves out of poverty. One of his most proud moments though was working on the Obama campaign, meeting him, and helping him win the election. 

He also credits his relationship with Black Labor organizations such as AFRAM, the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists, and the A. Philip Randolph Institute which helped shape him into the labor leader that he is today. 

During his time at SEIU Local 1, Lonnell has seen major shifts in the organization as it strives to be more inclusive and representative of its membership and is looking forward to SEIU Local 1 continuing the fight for racial, economic, and environmental justice on all fronts.