The History of IBEW
New Horizons
In 1959 a full-time director of skill improvement training was added to our I.O. staff. A complete industrial electronics course was developed; and by 1970 more than 100,000 journeymen were taking or had taken skill improvement courses.
In June 1959 a Safety Department with a full-time director was established at the International Office.
In autumn 1961 our Brotherhood developed a course called Industrial Atomic Energy Uses, Hazards and Controls; and institutes were conducted to train instructors in this field so important to the welfare of our members and the public.
Delegates to our 27th Convention in Montreal, Quebec, in 1962 voted to raise our per capita tax from 90 cents to $1.50.
Our Diamond Jubilee Convention was held in September 1966 in St. Louis, where the Brotherhood was born 75 years earlier. Delegates voted to create a Strike Assistance Fund, in addition to the Legal Defense Fund. "A"-member delegates voted to strengthen the IBEW pension program by increasing payments to the PBF and improving benefits. In its diamond jubilee year, the IBEW also began its Founders’ Scholarship Program by awarding eight scholarships in electrical engineering to IBEW journeyman electricians.
President Freeman told the 75th Anniversary Convention:
"Our union stands tall today. ... The dream our founders had of bringing dignity and security to Electrical Workers is a staunch reality. ... We can take pride in how far we have come, but there is no time to rest on our laurels."
Two years later President Freeman retired from office, after 13 years of dedicated service in that position. President Freeman was determined that the IBEW remain strong and continue to grow after he handed over the reins of leadership. So, he retired as President while still an active and effective leader to assure an orderly transfer of administration. He served as President Emeritus until his death on May 13, 1983.
Changes Instituted
Charles H. Pillard, an IEC member, was appointed by the IEC to succeed Brother Freeman on October 1, 1968. Early on, President Pillard realized the growing importance of residential construction. Among his many accomplishments from the 1960s through the 1980s are the promotion of the Coordinated Residential Organizing Program (CROP), the organization of the construction industry and the development of imaginative programs which provided better service to our members. His agreement with NECA to increase the employer contribution to the NEBF from 1 percent of payroll to 3 percent provided a sound basis for improvements in pension benefits.
At the 29th Convention of our Brotherhood in Seattle in 1970, President Pillard was unanimously elected International President. The 29th Convention's theme, "Exploring New Horizons in Electricity," reflected the strides the IBEW had made. Since the Convention of 1966, 101 new locals had been chartered; more than 45,000 members were receiving pensions; and wages were increasing steadily.
IBEW membership reached one million in October 1972. Another milestone occurred on December 1, 1973, when the new headquarters building of the IBEW in Washington, D.C., was dedicated. The 30th Convention in Kansas City, Missouri, in September 1974, was the first Convention at which the delegates (2,970) represented more than one million members.
I. O. Modernization Begins
After 22 years of dedicated service to the Brotherhood as International Secretary, Joseph D. Keenan retired in 1976. This great humanitarian faithfully served not only the IBEW, but the entire trade union movement at home and abroad. Early in his career Brother Keenan realized organized labor needed to become active in the education and registration of voters. These people could then vote for public officials who understand and support social and economic issues vital tworking peoplele. He served with distinction as director of Labor's League for Political Education, which evolved into the Committee on Political Education (COPE). Secretary Emeritus Keenan died on July 22, 1984.
Ralph A. Leigon was appointed to replace Brother Keenan as International Secretary in 1976 and was elected to that position in 1978. Brother Leigon initiated the reorganization of the office of the International Secretary, introduced the latest in modern office techniques and software design, and initiated the conversion to computers in all departments of the International Office. After serving with distinction, Brother Leigon retired, effective October 1, 1985, and was named International Secretary Emeritus. Jack F. Moore, International Vice President of the 11th District, was appointed to complete the unexpired term of International Secretary.
Delegates to the 31st Convention held in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in 1978 approved monthly per capita increases from $2.00 to $3.00 effective January 1, 1979; to $3.50 effective January 1, 1980; and to $4.00 effective January 1, 1981.
The per capita payment was increased to $5.00 per month effective January 1, 1983, by action of the delegates to the 32nd Convention held in Los Angeles, California, in 1982.
International President Pillard retired in August 1986 and was named International President Emeritus. J.J. Barry, International Vice President of the Third District, was appointed to succeed him on August 25, 1986.
Delegates to the 33rd Convention in Toronto, Ontario, in 1986 elected J.J. Barry as International President and Jack F. Moore as International Secretary by acclamation. The delegates to the 33rd Convention also voted to raise the per capita tax to $6.00 effective January 1, 1987.
100 Years of Service Celebrated
Delegates to the 34th and Centennial Convention in St. Louis in October 1991 increased the per capita to $7.00 effective January 1, 1992, and to $8.00 effective January 1, 1994. The delegates also amended the Constitution to provide for a Convention every five years. This change should reduce the overall costs of conducting the Convention and enable more local unions to send delegates to the Convention.
Before the opening of the 34th Convention, a Centennial Exposition, open to the general public as well as delegates, their families and I.O. staff, commemorated our first 100 years, celebrated our union’s progress and envisioned our next 100 years of service. The IBEW Archives was re-created at the entrance to the Exposition, the first time these artifacts have been displayed outside the International Office. An estimated 10,000 people visited more than 100 booths and exhibits provided by IBEW employers and union service providers. In addition to educating visitors about the IBEW, the electrical industry and the trade union movement, the Exposition revealed the numerous ways in which our union touches the lives of hundreds of millions of people across the United States and Canada.
At the 35th Convention in Philadelphia, in September 1996, the International President and International Secretary were elected by electronic voting. Electronic voting was employed also to determine the vote on some of the proposed amendments to the IBEW Constitution. A $1.00 increase in the per capita tax to be effective no later than January 1, 2001, won the approval of the delegates. This increase may be implemented by the IEC prior to 2001 if budget projections indicate a deficit. Delegate action also directed the International President to appoint a committee to study the IBEW’s structure and Constitution and recommend changes to ensure the Brotherhood’s vitality in the 21st century. Any constitutional changes the committee recommends were to be voted on by referendum.
Effective April 1, 1997, International Secretary Moore retired and was named International Secretary Emeritus. President Barry appointed, and the IEC confirmed, Third District International Vice President Edwin D. Hill to complete the unexpired term of International Secretary.
Membership Declines
Not long after reaching the pinnacle of one million members, our membership began a steady decline. Our Brotherhood's organizing efforts, although significant, could not keep pace with the erosion of jobs in almost all industries caused by anti-union sentiments, foreign competition and technological change.
The 1980s brought a conservative trend in the United States led by right-wing zealots whose primary purpose was to increase the profits and wealth of the already-wealthy. To show his strength of purpose in the early stages of his administration in Washington, U.S. President Reagan fired every air traffic controller who participated in a strike called by their union, the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization. After executing the union, Reagan forbade hiring of the strikers to any federal government job. This initial incident set the stage for an anti-union philosophy that dominated labor-management relations until 1992.
Conservative thinkers also gained power in Canada and achieved significant inroads in crippling the labor movement. In both countries wages stagnated and membership declined. In the United States the NLRB, through its supervision of certification elections, had a ruinous effect on organizing. The Department of Labor became dedicated more to protecting business interests than to ensuring the rights of workers and their unions. Many of these businesses employed union-busting consultants to defeat union organizers and to decertify bargaining units.
Corporate executives’ salaries soared to obscene heights while workers suffered continual rollbacks in wages and even loss of their healthcare benefits. Unemployment grew as our domestic industries seemed unable to compete with their foreign counterparts. The manufacture of entire classes of electronic products moved offshore while still bearing the well-recognized names of American corporations. This deindustrialization, plus technological change, caused the loss of tens of thousands of jobs for our manufacturing members. In 1982 the court-ordered divestiture of AT&T led to a decline in our telephone-industry membership, including devastating losses in manufacturing plants operated by that company.
During the 1980s nonunion electrical contractors gained a stronger foothold, eroding membership in our construction branch. While a proactive organizing campaign, instituted by President Barry, began to turn these losses around, the economy in the United States and Canada killed a promising building boom and inhibited membership growth.
These factors caused our membership to decline to fewer than 800,000 by the early 1990s. Trying to alter this course, President Barry instituted a progressive organizing program in every branch of our Brotherhood.
Pundits, politicians and the general public have characterized the 1980s as the decade of greed. The beneficiaries of the largess of Presidents Reagan and Bush can hardly disprove this characterization, considering the workers who were left unemployed, many reduced to poverty and homelessness, by their political experiment of supply-side economics that made the wealthy even wealthier.
What of Our Future?
Today we remain strong with approximately 750,000 members. The number of local unions within the Brotherhood has been reduced because of the need to amalgamate smaller local unions when it appears that better representation of the membership could be achieved. Still, we are united through more than 1,100 local unions established over the length and breadth of the United States and Canada. We are one of the largest unions in the world, and our wages and working conditions are second to none in any comparable field. IBEW members enjoy better health and welfare coverage, improved pensions, longer vacations and more holidays, as well as a shorter workweek.
We stand where we are today because strong, intelligent and loyal men and women created, protected and preserved our union. They cared about what happened to them and to their children. They remained loyal to the organization that gave them protection and strength.
Each era writes its own history. Our union heritage, vibrant and strong, has been passed on to us. Where we go from here depends upon our Brothers and Sisters today. As International President Barry said during the opening of the 35th International Convention:
"We in the IBEW want a world where a man can go to a safe workplace, earn a fair wage and use his skills to do a good day's work. We want a world where a woman can develop her talents to the fullest and have a wealth of opportunity before her ... where workers can retire with dignity, with the security of knowing the health care is affordable and available ... where children are treated like the precious treasure they are—nurtured, educated and loved so they can carry the torch into the future, ... and where workers can organize and bargain collectively to achieve all these things in fairness and in justice."