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1960-1970 To the Moon
The 1960s were difficult years for North America. It was a time of contrasts -a time of great hope and progress and of great despair. It was a time of great violence and anger, and of “flower power’,” love-ins, and nonviolent protest. It was a time filled with the promise of sending a man to the moon and bringing him back safely, of waging a war on poverty, of dreams of children of all races sitting down together. And it was a time shattered by a bitter war in Vietnam and the assassinations of President John Kennedy; his brother, senator and presidential hopeful, Robert Kennedy; and civil-rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. For the IBEW, the 1960s was also a time of contrasts. The Brotherhood experienced growth and diversification and made great gains in organizing the highly skilled men and. women who manufactured the technology used for the space program. It had success in the broadcasting and recording industries. And it continued to benefit the generally robust economy and the high level of construction activity. Burt by the end of tire decade, an increasing number of American companies were shipping their manufacturing operations overseas and to Mexico; and automation was taking its toll. The economy was slowing as the ‘70s approached, and darker days were on the way. Never, in recent history, has North American optimism hit as great a high as at the beginning of the 60s. There was a sense that despite the tremendous problems the world faced-poverty, hunger, racial inequality, communist expansion—there was a solution. Whether it was the Peace Corps, VISTA, urban renewal, Medicare, civil-rights legislation or the Green Berets, President Kennedy seemed to have programs to help those in need. But at the same time, that optimism was being tempered by negative developments. Even in the early ‘60s, “progress” was exacting a heavy price from working people. Automation and mechanization cost more and more workers their jobs as the pace of technology advanced. But automation presented an unusual challenge for the Brotherhood. IBEW members manufactured many of the so-called labor-saving devices, which when used cost other members their jobs. Telephone operators felt the force of automation the most, losing hundreds of thousands of jobs to automatic switching technology. Despite losses in some IBEW branches, North America’s increasing energy needs kept the Brotherhood growing. Nuclear energy was being used to produce electricity in plants across the country. And IBEW members, with their training and high skill levels, were able to do well in both the construction and the operation of these extremely complex projects. Page 2 of 4 |
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