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International Secretary G.M. Bugniazet was unanimously reelected at the Convention. In June of 1947, however, due to deteriorating health—after 36 years of service to the Brotherhood, 22 of those years as International Secretary—Secretary Bugniazet tendered his resignation. Ninth District International Vice President J. Scott Milne was appointed to serve out his term.

With new leadership in place, the Brotherhood faced the challenge of living with the consequences of the Taft-Hartley Act. Seen by business as a counter to labor gains in the 1935 National Labor Relations Act (also known as the Wagner Act), the Taft-Hartley Act severely limited workers’ rights to protest and strike. The law set the stage for so-called state “Right-to-Work” laws which banned the practice of both closed and union shops within the state. State and federal antiunion legislators try to this day to expand the power of Taft-Hartley and “Right-to-Work” legislation; efforts which continue to hamper labor growth.

During the debate centered on Taft-Hartley, business leaders used America’s growing fear of. Communism against organized labor, a fear which would, a few years later, find a compelling voice in Senator Joseph McCarthy. Attention was most closely focused on some of the more radical unions of the CIO, but all of labor found itself a victim in the growing fear of the Cold War. President Tracy fought back. Aggressive organizing campaigns, tough collective bargaining, and efficient fiscal and personnel management kept spirits high and membership rolls growing in the Brotherhood. Economic conditions, uncertain in 1945 and ‘46, picked up considerably toward the end of the ‘40s. With more and more men and women at work, the IBEW was able to capitalize on that economic growth and continue the expansion it experienced during the war.

The increasing pace of technological change pushing America since the 1920s showed no signs of letting up in the 1940s. F.M. radio expanded the sound quality and range of program possibilities on the airwaves. Talked about for years, televisions moved into working peoples’ homes after the war. The international Business Machine Company in New York was building room-sized “calculators,” capable of storing and reading large quantities of data. The possibility of using atomic energy to produce electricity was being worked out, and jet engines were poised to revolutionize air travel. Even sending men to the moon seemed within our reach.

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1945-1950 Containment and Expansion