International Treasurer Emeritus Thomas Van Arsdale

October/November 2001 IBEW Journal

After 18 years with Charles H. Pillard as our president, 15 years with Jack Barry as our president, and now the awesome responsibility in the able hands of Edwin D. Hill, the IBEW has been and will continue to be a most outstanding International of the AFL-CIO and the Canadian Labour Congress.

We seem to have been fainthearted in regard to the needs of the trade union movement—thinking that if we open up some questions, we’ll be worse off than when we started.

In the Davis-Bacon law we have tolerated an unfair circumstance where the law says that the low bidder must pay the prevailing rate which is in effect at the time the job is awarded. We think Davis-Bacon should be changed to read that the low bidder must pay the prevailing rate which is in effect at the time the work is done.

We believe state law should say that the government may not use the voter registration rolls when they’re selecting jurors. That has been a great deterrent to union members who cannot afford to take the time off to serve on the jury and, unfortunately, they give up their right to vote.

One of my notes here reminds me of what one of our old journeyman friends used to say: "Give me hills to climb and strength to climb them."

Whatever success I have had is the result of a team effort by the great trade union men and women I have known and worked with.

Ed Cleary was president of the New York State AFL-CIO for about 15 years; and his successor, Denis Hughes, who is a delegate to this convention, is also a member of Local 3. And also, we’re very proud of Brian McLaughlin of Local 3, who has been elected and reelected president of the New York City AFL-CIO since 1995.