Leadership Team Re- Elected

September 11, 2006

IBEW members at the 37th Convention demonstrated their support for progressive change by unanimously electing International President Edwin D. Hill and International Secretary-Treasurer Jon Walters to five-year terms. They ran unopposed and won by acclamation.

International Executive Council Chairman Robert Pierson was also elected by acclamation.

Expressing his gratitude to delegates, President Hill stated, “By re-electing me, you did not vote for the status quo…because we are going to work together to do whatever it takes to keep this Brotherhood strong and growing and on the move.”

Reminding delegates that the Brotherhood is “not about any one man or woman,” Hill said, “I have been fortunate enough in this job to meet presidents and CEOs and some of the most powerful people in North America.  They didn’t want to meet Ed Hill; they wanted to meet the person who leads the IBEW, the person who represents all of you.  That’s the kind of power that we have if we have the courage and the wisdom to use it and to make this Brotherhood the best it can be.”

Hill gave special thanks to his brothers and sisters back home in Beaver, Pa. Local 712, his wife, Rosemary, and his children Michele, Toni and Edwin Jr. 

Recognizing the teamwork that exemplifies the IBEW, Hill said that he was one of the luckiest men alive because he has had the best to lean on in his term as International President, praising Jon Walters, IBEW’s vice presidents and the International Executive Council.

President Hill expressed the need for members and leaders to constantly evaluate what they are doing and to “make adjustments when necessary, even if those adjustments represent a major change in course.” Evoking the music of the opening ceremonies, President Hill said, “Always know that you can lean on me. I’m your union brother, Ed.”

Frank Telesz, business manager of Beaver, Pa., Local 712, placed Hill’s name into nomination, praising his courage and his honesty “no matter how much it hurt.”

Secretary-Treasurer Walters said that he was humbled by his election. “Who would have ever guessed that a farm kid from eastern Idaho would be here today, addressing this historic 37th International Convention as International Secretary-Treasurer?  My presence here today is a tribute to the power that the IBEW has to provide opportunity and change lives.”

Pierson pledged to support the union’s emphasis on growth through organizing, saying, “Like every generation of the IBEW, we must leave the organization better than we found it.”