Related Articles

Labor Day ‘98 — Where We Stand

Labor Day is a unique holiday. It doesn’t celebrate a historic event or a particular individual of heroic sacrifice for one’s country. Labor Day is the holiday that truly belongs to every man and woman, as it marks a day to honor that most basic of human endeavors — work. This most egalitarian of holidays is a fitting time to examine the principles for which we, as men and women united by common bonds of work in the electrical industry, proudly stand. The tides of history ebb and flow, but principles endure.

One such principle is our staunch advocacy of the individual worker’s right to develop his or her skills to the fullest extent possible. This is largely what has enabled us to survive for 108 years while other unions have foundered. In the economy of the future, the skills of individual workers in every industry represented by the IBEW will be paramount to success.

Consider all you have heard and read about the vaunted economic good times and the prospect of a labor shortage. It does not require digging very deep to see that there are definite winners and losers in the current economy. The growth in wages in recent years has not made up for the ground lost by the average worker in the past decade. The financial rewards generated by good jobs and stock dividends are going to those who have the skills that are in demand, while those without are struggling.

As I have said before -- and believe bears repeating — we have a century-old tradition in the IBEW of supporting and negotiating for training and education. Current economic conditions validate our tradition all the more. I want to see the working people of America — especially our members — be able to call themselves winners in the economy of the 21^st century.

Another keystone principle is organizing. We can’t help more workers share in North America’s prosperity if we don’t represent them. We can’t have the leverage to represent our existing membership effectively if we don’t organize more workers within our core industries. This is the same message that the IBEW has preached for more than ten years.

And that leads to another principle that has been the hallmark of the IBEW -- innovation. To succeed in the future, we must be willing and able to go beyond what is comfortable or traditional. In looking back on how the trade union movement fell from its pinnacle in the 1950s and 60s, it is clear in hindsight that we let management dictate the rules of engagement. Too often, we only reacted. It was only when we set forth our own vision and got right back in the face of those who oppose us that we started to set the IBEW back on the course on which it was founded — fighting hard for our members.

It was the creation of an effective labor movement that forged the most significant social change in North America. It was the founding of the IBEW that turned work in a dangerous, difficult industry into one of the premier occupations in the country. It is the birthright of the IBEW to be the agents of change, not an organization that allows events to dictate its future.

Economic good times will not last forever. The tight labor market is transitory. What is permanent is what’s inside our heads and our hearts — the intelligence to perceive how we can make the lives of working people better and the strength of character to make it so.