The objects of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers 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 unions; 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 (if possible); To assist each other in sickness or distress; To secure employment; To reduce the hours of daily labor; 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 standard of citizenship. Your participation
makes us strong Look at the Preamble to the IBEW Constitution, written more than a hundred years ago in the early days of the American Labor Movement. Doesn’t it seem that it could have been written yesterday to describe what we are striving for every day as union electrical workers? “To promote reasonable methods of work”…Isn’t that exactly what we are trying to do with our labor/management committees, and with the Safety and Training Institutes that will soon be established? The last line may sound a little old fashioned, but think about it. When we get beyond the daily details, and step back for a broad view, isn’t that what we should be striving for today? To elevate our conditions and achieve a higher standard of citizenship? We’ve been running the names of L/M committee members and continue with more in this issue. These are some of the rank and file activists who make the system work and help us to progress. The closest presidential election in memory makes the point on a national level: Every vote counts. In government, at work, in your Union, the lesson is the same: When you participate, you make the system stronger, you help build a better future, and you experience the satisfaction of working collectively for the common good. |