IBEW 1574

HISTORY OF THE I.B.E.W.

The IBEW was founded on November 28, 1891 in St. Louis, Missouri by a group of ten delegates representing 286 members employed in the electrical industry.

The IBEW is as old as the commercial use of electricity itself. It is the oldest as well as the largest, electrical union in the world. As public demand for electricity increased, the number of electrical workers increased accordingly and the surge toward unionism was born out of their desperate needs and deplorable safety conditions.

In the 1890’s, the work was hard; the hours long; the pay small. It was common for a lineman to risk his life on the high lines 12 hours a day in any kind of weather, seven days a week, for a meager sum of 15 to 20 cents an hour. Two dollars and fifty cents a day was considered an excellent wage for wiremen, and many men were forced to accept work for $8.00 a week.

Since the humble beginnings of the IBEW in 1891, the IBEW has prided itself on the participation of its members and the democracy afforded to affiliated local unions. Locals establish their own bylaws, general rules and policies in concert with the IBEW constitution. The locals have a full autonomy in the election of their full-time officers, table officers and executive boards and they negotiate collective agreements with their employers. The local unions are encouraged to set their agendas for the betterment of their membership and IBEW.

Today, the IBEW represent 750,000 members internationally. The first Canadian Local – IBEW Local 93 (now Local Union 586) – was organized in Ottawa on December 20, 1899 and the IBEW has 100 locals representing 55,000 members in every province and territory and is very divers.

We represent members in many industries, such as utilities, manufacturing, construction, telecommunications, cablevision, radio and television, shipyards, railroads, sound and alarm, appliance repair, motor shops, sign shops, pulp and paper mill, mining and government.

THE OBJECTS OF THE I.B.E.W. ARE:

• To organize all workers in the entire electrical industry in the United States and Canada, including all those in public utilities and electrical manufacturing, into local union,
• To promote reasonable methods of work,
• To cultivate feelings of friendship among those of our industry,
• To settle all disputes between employers and employees by arbitration (is possible)
• To assist each other in sickness or distress,
• To secure employment,
• To reduce the hours of daily labour,
• To secure adequate pay for our work,
• To seek a higher and higher standard of living,
• To seek security for the individual,
• And by legal and proper means to elevate the moral, intellectual and social conditions of our members, their families and dependents, in the interest of a higher standards of citizenship.

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