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I.B.E.W. ETIQUETTE

A few simple rules to follow about how you conduct yourself as a union man,
on and off the job.

Ours is a "Brotherhood" of Electrical Workers.

Two objectives in our Constitution are:

1. To cultivate feelings of friendship among those of our industry.
2. To assist each other in sickness and distress.

We are all working together to better ourselves, our brothers and sisters, our industry, our union.
This is not a competitive environment...
Jack London

To our newly organized Brothers and Sisters...
Welcome!

You have made one of the most important decisions of your life and will prove to be one of the best. Regardless of how you came into this fine brotherhood, you now have a yellow ticket in your possession...identically the same as the one that each and everyone of the rest of us own. Many of you have earned your right to come into this brotherhood, regretfully...many of you have not. Some of you might have just "purchased" your ticket for a hundred dollars or so, but none of that matters now...we all now have that same yellow ticket and all that matters is what we choose to do with it.

While we personally don't agree with some of the organizing tactics that some of our Local Unions and our International are pushing, the bottom-line is that we fully understand and realize that you are only trying to better yourself and your family and no one can begrudge anyone for that. In fact, from the very beginnings of our great union, we have always supported that cause and always will. It is a part of who we are and rock solid in our very foundation of core beliefs.

The founding fathers of our great union sought not only to create a great and powerful labor union of electrical workers, but a fraternal 'Brotherhood' as well. Although all the objectives of our 'Constitutional Preamble' are equally important, two statements stand out very visibly in the name of Brotherhood:

1. To cultivate feelings of friendship among those of our industry.

2. To assist each other in sickness and distress.

These hardworking, courageous and great men unselfishly felt that the bond of one to another through their common stories of hardships, poor working conditions and tyranny, regardless of where each was from or had been, was an unyielding binding tie between them. This bond was incorporated into our union as a 'Brotherhood of Electrical Workers'. We all share the same hardships, the same goals and the same stories...We are a fraternity of 'Brothers and Sisters' and should always remember that when dealing with one another on any level, on the job or off. Our relationships with each other transcend the normal workday and are an important part of our normal everyday lives, second only to our families. That's what makes an IBEW member maybe just a little different, maybe just a little more 'special' than members of other unions, associations, and fraternities...and we like it that way!

RESPONSIBILITIES

It is the responsibility of all Union Members: to actively participate in the discussion and voting of all Union business, nominations, and election of officials. If there is something you don't agree with, bring it up...in the Union meeting! Talk is cheap and we'll never solve any of our problems or issues in the break room, the parking lot, especially...bitching anonymously in an online forum and worst of all, over a few brews down at the local wireman's bar or at the weekend cookouts.

When you find yourself complaining about how the union is being run, just remember that it's run by the concerned members that actually go to the meetings, participate and get involved. This is our Union and if we don't participate in its affairs, then we have no basis or rights at all to complain...about anything!

It is the responsibility of all Union Members: to strive to be the very best in their craft. We as a Union sell ourselves as able to furnish an endless supply of the very highest trained craftsmen in the industry. If we cannot offer this to our employers, then we have nothing to offer.

Employers do not need Unions...but, Unions need employers and if we can hold up our end...employers will need Unions!

Why is the IBEW® Organizing?

Organizing is the number one objective in our IBEW® Constitution

Sometime after WWII, in times of great growth and prosperity in this country, the IBEW® lost sight of the vision of building our membership and market share through organizing efforts and developed what we now refer to as a 'country-club mentality', where we only took care of ourselves and our immediate membership and turned away many well-qualified people from our doors that sought to join us and share in our newfound solidarity and the many benefits of unionism and brotherhood. Understandably, some of those people went on to open and outright own their own electrical shops employing those that are now are our biggest competitors in all disciplines of electrical construction. They have little or no use for unions and especially the IBEW and who can blame them? It is our opinion that had we stayed the course in our organizing efforts as our founders had originally intended, we would now own this industry and would have all the benefits that our Union was created to provide. .

There seems to be several myths about 'why the IBEW is organizing', some of which are as follows:
  • The IBEW® wants more members strictly to increase their funds by way of collecting more dues.
  • The IBEW® wants to bring in non-union electricians to take their jobs from them by putting existing union members to work ahead of the new members.
  • The IBEW® wants to put the non-union contractors out of business by way of denying them qualified electricians.

The truth is the IBEW® is a labor organization dedicated to the Labor Movement, which means that our members believe that all working men and women are entitled to the same wages and benefits, regardless of whether or not they are working on jobs that must pay prevailing wages due to Federal or State laws or whether or not they are members of the IBEW®. The IBEW® is an organization run by the members, for the members. We are the largest, strongest and oldest union devoted to electrical workers.

As workers, the IBEW® believes that contractors should compete on their business abilities and their estimating skills, not on how little they can pay their employees nor on how bad of working conditions their employees will tolerate. If the workers do not join together, both wages and working conditions will deteriorate. Without the presence of the Union, electrical work would be another minimum wage industry. Up until a few years ago the entire electrical industry was on a downhill spiral. Non-union electrician wages were steadily going down and Union wages were stagnating. Since that time both wages and benefits have been on the rise in both sectors. It is no accident that this has happened. The contractors did not all of a sudden decide that it would be a good idea. The reason wages and benefits have risen is because the IBEW® is organizing. When workers band together in solidarity, the contractors know that they can no longer drive wages down by telling you to take it or leave it.

The IBEW® Looks to Technology, Training and Organizing as Keys to the Future of the Construction Industry.The future of the IBEW members in the Construction Branch can be good if the proper planning is done now. The strategy for the future includes several major elements:

  1. keep organizing the nonunion sector of the electrical construction industry in a strategic fashion;
  2. continue to identify new technology that will create the jobs of the future and develop the training programs needed to get that work for IBEW members,
  3. and prepare for the inevitable ups and downs in the industry and help those brothers and sisters who do not share in the good times.

These are the reasons the IBEW is organizing. Organizing makes Sense!
 

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