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The IBEW Sees Hard Times

The country was plunging into a severe economic depression at the time of the Third Convention, held in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1893. Many older members were forced to drop out of the organization. At that time wiremen and linemen were organized into separate local unions in cities where the membership was large enough. However, linemen and wiremen frequently argued over which branch had the right to enroll members of other branches of the trade not numerous enough to organize locals of their own. These disputes surfaced forcefully at the Third Convention.

Making Ends Meet

In the early days constitutional amendments had to be submitted to every member with a two-thirds affirmative vote required for adoption. Conventions could only recommend, not adopt. The Third Convention voted to recommend an increase in per capita tax to 15 cents, which the members subsequently approved. Members also voted by referendum that year to hold conventions every two years. Queren Jansen served as Grand President from 1893 to 1894, with Henry Miller serving as Third Grand Vice President and Grand Organizer. In 1894 Secretary-Treasurer Kelly reported a loss for the year of $468.50, which was covered by loans from various members and locals. With many obligations to be met, Kelly wrote, ``It was under such circumstances, when the very life of the organization depended on it, that I mortgaged my household effects and building association stock to meet the checks and get out the Journal with proceedings of the Convention...."

Issues Evolve

Unsafe working conditions and substandard wages prevailed. Local Union 1 reported as late as 1897 that the wage of an electrician in St. Louis was only $2.00 per day. However, general conditions of work in the industry and the safety record for electrical workers began to improve, due to the adoption of an apprenticeship system. To effect better conditions in the industry and to rid the trade of its large numbers of unskilled and incompetent mechanics, the first NBEW Constitution established an apprenticeship system which required a minimum of three years' training under the supervision of a journeyman before an applicant could become eligible for membership. The system also limited the ratio of the number of apprentices to the number of journeymen an employer might employ. Later the term of apprenticeship was extended and an apprentice was required to pass an examination before being admitted to membership in a local union. In addition to the severe depression ravaging the country in 1894 and 1895, hostile employers and anti-labor prejudice were almost insurmountable. Those were the days of beatings and blacklistings. Members concealed their ``tickets" (union cards) in their shoes as they traveled from place to place seeking employment. One early account tells of the experience of a member traveling by boxcar to Cripple Creek, Colorado, to find work. He was dragged from the car and searched. When an IBEW card was found in his pocket, he was chained to a tree, whipped and shipped out of town on the next freight.

Strength Amid Struggle

James T. Kelly

Conditions took their toll. When the Fourth Convention opened in Washington, D.C., in 1895, only 12 delegates answered the roll call; the treasury showed a deficit of $1,016. Our Brotherhood was certainly at a low ebb. It is amazing that the union did not fall apart completely. It probably would have, had it not been for that stalwart of our Brotherhood, Grand Secretary J. T. Kelly. He kept the foundering union afloat with the strength and encouragement of a few more members who refused to abandon their dream of a strong national union and a better life for all. The delegates to the Washington Convention corrected some past mistakes and established a sounder financial policy for the Brotherhood. The funeral benefit covering a member's spouse, which proved too heavy a burden for the treasury, was abolished. The minimum initiation fee was increased to $5.00, and the per capita was raised to 25 cents a month. In addition, the office of Grand Secretary-Treasurer was separated into two offices. Harry W. Sherman served as Grand President from 1894 to 1897, when he succeeded the veteran J. T. Kelly as Grand Secretary. Meanwhile, the man who did so much to breathe life into this organization, Henry Miller, died from an industrial accident while working for the Potomac Electric Power Company. On July 10, 1896, while working as head lineman of a crew repairing storm damage, Brother Miller suffered an electrical shock and fell from a power pole, striking his head. Newspaper accounts stated he remained conscious, was carried to his rooming house, treated by a doctor and died about eight hours after the accident. At the age of 43, he had no money and was buried at the power company's expense. The undertaker's record shows expenses of $63.50, including $1.50 for a shirt, collar and tie. The man who gave so much of himself for others was destitute and without a decent outfit to his name. According to the many friends he made while organizing and working as a lineman, Brother Miller often went without food and deprived himself of needed clothing so his earnings could benefit his dream the NBEW. His final resting place is in Glenwood Cemetery in Washington, D.C., Section F, Range B, Site 179. His dream lives on. The IBEW provides for perpetual care of his gravesite.