Related Articles

Address of International President Edwin D. Hill
IBEW 5th District Progress Meeting
Biloxi, Mississippi
May 19, 2003

Thank you, Mel. And thank you, brothers and sisters for your warm reception. Vice President Gardner and Klein it is good to be with you as always

Once again, -- this is the first progress meeting of the season. Mel seems to have made this something of a tradition, -- like throwing out the first pitch of the baseball season. And thats fine, -- because as always, Im happy to be here in the 5^th District good dedicated brothers and sisters.

We are here in Biloxi, a place that has rediscovered the tradition of the Mississippi riverboat gambler. I hope that you have a good time at the casino, and if by chance you see Bill Bennett there autographing copies of the "Book of Virtues," tell him I said hello and that I am sorry I didnt really read his book.

Im glad were at a place where we can kick back a little and relax -- I am sorry that I will not be able to spend some time here -- because we are going to need our strength for what lies ahead.

All of us in this room have chosen to become active in our Brotherhood -- to take a leadership role in fighting for the principles upon which this union was built. We are not passive observers of events that shape our lives. Our goal is much more important we must influence them these events.

But for anyone who takes his or her role as union leader seriously -- and I know that includes all of us -- these are difficult days. To talk about progress in the labor movement seems hollow at a time when so many factors are working against us and so many problems confront us in every industry we represent.

The question that is before us every day is: How do we survive, -- let alone grow, in times like these?

Those of you who were at our various conferences this year have heard me talk about getting back to basics. You heard me say that by taking care of our core areas of responsibility, we will be taking the necessary steps towards progress. This is true. But those steps must lead somewhere. We must have a vision for where we want to go, -- so that these basics that we all believe in -- will enable us to deliver bold strokes for the future.

It was 35 years ago that we lost Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy within the space of two months. Thirty-five years -- for those of us who were around then, it doesnt seem possible that so much time has passed. And it makes us think about the loss not only of two good and inspiring men,-- but also about what else has been lost over the years.

I question what we have lost as a union and why? Did we lose the ability to know what is right? How to act on a job? How to perform our job in a workman like manner on time and on budget? How to treat each other and our counterparts in other unions? I am sure that we all think that we are doing the right things to promote the Union culture, -- but I am asking that we all rethink what we are doing each and every day of our working lives and see if we can get back to doing it the "Union" way -- in a manner that will make us more marketable for the future and provide for our survival. Now for the future -- we have decided to try some different approaches in obtaining employment opportunities for outside and inside members -- as well as organizing the non-union.

We will be making some changes in this and other districts. So that we can better service out customers -- those that we have presently and the new ones that we will be dealing with. I am telling our potential customers that it is a new day and a new IBEW in the Fifth District -- how do I know this --because you told me and I believe you.

So much for that.

The United States has created record amounts of wealth since 1968. We became the only military superpower on the globe -- as was recently demonstrated again by the outstanding men and women of our armed forces in Iraq. We were the cradles of technology that has transformed the world.

But something much more valuable than any of that seems to have gotten lost along the way. The deaths of King and Kennedy Brothers underscored a loss of idealism in our society an idealism that included support -- not just tolerance -- for the Trade Union Movement. We talk about them and other inspirational leaders like them including a Labor Leader or two. We quote them and teach our school kids about them -- however as you know our school children are never taught about the positive impact that the Trade Union movement had on the upward growth of North America. But do we do anything as a society to live up to their ideals?

We stopped being concerned about fairness for all and for a concern for the underdog. The brightest minds stopped thinking in grand terms about addressing social problems and started focusing on how much money they could make. In a span of eight years we went from John F. Kennedy in his inaugural address challenging us to ask what we could do for our country to Richard Nixon in his inaugural address telling us to ask what we could do for ourselves.

Even the trade union movement got too comfortable during the postwar years of growth. We went from our high of representing some 30 percent of the workforce to barely representing 10 percent. We became more interested in protecting our gains and covering our asses -- than we did in keeping up the fight for the working class. So when Ronald Reagan busted the air traffic controllers,-- we didnt have the guts or even the instinct to fight back. Many in the Trade Union Movement even scoffed at the controllers saying they deserved it -- because they had no legal right to strike. It wasnt too long after that happened that legal rights for the Labor Movement became almost meaningless -- like the right to organize, the right to a first contract and the right to strike. We have even seen the defense of trade union rights slandered as unpatriotic, -- like we did in the recent debate over the rights of homeland security department employees.

The late 60s and early 70s were no picnic. They were times of political, social and cultural upheaval that were tough to live through. But is what we have today better?

The September 11 attacks and the fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq brought out a sincere and overwhelming expression of patriotism in this nation. Even before those events, -- IBEW members were notable for their love of country and willingness to defend America, -- as we have showed yet again in recent months. But while people are waving the flag -- a flag that was probably made in China -- they need to stop and remember -- just what that flag stands for. Among other ideals, -- it stands for liberty, -- justice and dignity for all -- not just some, -- not just the favored few, -- but all.

Some days, it seems as if the social gains of the mid-20^th century never happened. It feels like were back in 1903, instead of 2003. Corporate executives rake in pay,-- bonuses,-- stock options and perks that are many thousands of times what the average workers makes. Even as company performances slide, workers lose their jobs and shareholders are stiffed, -- the greed fest continues.

Weve seen the de-industrialization of America, as good paying jobs that once powered the middle class and were the basis of the mightiest industrial power on earth are disappearing. We used to export products -- made with American labor to other countries; now we send them our manufacturing jobs. America rebelled against Britain because that country used the colonies as a source of raw materials and made us a captive market for their manufactured goods. Now, we have come full circle,-- shipping our raw materials to developing countries to let them do the manufacturing. Then we imported finished products back for the sake of saving a few bucks at Wal-Mart and lining the pockets of the executives who slashed the payroll -- resulting in the loss of millions of jobs.

We have seen the authority of the government weakened not by revolutionaries in the streets, -- but by a right-wing ideology that promotes a distorted version of freedom. Instead of protecting the greater good against the excesses of the few, -- we now have a government bought and paid for by the wealthiest and most powerful. We are told that any kind of regulation of vital services such as transportation, telecommunications and utilities is bad. We are told that tax cuts for the top percentile are just the ticket to make things better for the rest of us and Brothers and Sisters -- we believed it.

And we have a media that now is full people who identify more with their corporate masters than with working people. They seem to have lost their desire or its ability to ask the tough questions and stand up for the public interest. They accept with little or no protest the elite positions on issues such as free trade, -- taxes, -- health care and other vital topics. And of course, -- more of the media is becoming the province of conservative screaming heads who stoke the worst instincts in people, -- including many of our members.

None of this happened out of thin air. This was not just a natural return swing of the pendulum. America looks like it does today because the forces of wealth and the ideological conservatives came together to make it happen.

I remember when Hillary Clinton as First lady once blamed her husbands problems partly on "the vast right-wing conspiracy." I shook my head because I thought she was exaggerating and being a little paranoid.

She wasnt.

There has been much documentation of how the right wing in this country marshaled its considerable resources -- with the patronage of super-rich ideologues like Richard Mellon Scaife to mold policy, -- politics and popular opinion. There is too much evidence to dismiss the power of the right wing as a paranoid fantasy. They funded think tanks to turn out position papers, --books and arguments for their positions. They bankrolled media figures like Rush Limbaugh to fan the flames. They invested in political action in a big way ranging from the grassroots cultural conservatives to the big-time corporate contributors. They founded legal societies to develop a deep bench of legal and judicial activists -- many of whom are sitting on courts now, -- while we are trying to prevent others from being confirmed even as we speak. Their money and power bought the presidential election of 2000, -- the congressional elections of 2002, and are threatening to blow us out of the water in 2004.

And they did all of this with tremendous patience and perseverance.

So now we look around and wonder why things are so screwed up. Too many of our construction members are out of work. Manufacturing has dried up to the point of crisis. The utility, -- telecom -- and broadcasting industries are in turmoil. Our railroad members fight for survival. Government employment has been decimated. Workers are too scared to organize and have to jump through legal hoops to get companies even to negotiate with them.

Our country -- got sucker punched. And things will keep getting worse until we change them.

Wheres the passion for change? Wheres the outrage over our current predicament? As we rebuild Iraq, -- wheres the demand that we rebuild the schools, -- roads and bridges in our own country? Wheres the burning desire for justice and dignity that shone through in the words of Martin Luther King, Jr. -- Robert Kennedy -- Hubert Humphrey and others? I recall standing on a corner in New York City with Hubert Humphrey when he said that he was here on a corner with the working people discussing their issues -- while his opponent -- Richard Nixon was in the Midwest talking against the same issues.

Our country will not change for the better until the people decide to take it back. We have got to be part of a long-term solution to the problems facing America. There is no more logical place for the process of change to start --than with the trade union movement, and no union more fitting to be at the heart of it all than our own Brotherhood.

Our opponents dont have the answers. Their formula has been a disaster for the honest, hard-working Americans -- North and South, East and West -- who live right, -- obey the law, -- work hard, and love their country. We speak for those Americans, brothers and sisters, whether they belong to a union or not. And if we dont make our voices heard and make this country live up to its best ideals, -- who will?

We will not be able to turn our country around all at once. We will not accomplish miracles overnight. And we will not be able to do it by ourselves. The way we change things is to focus on what can be done and live up to our principles. Most of all we must understand that we are working toward a goal bigger than our immediate circumstances. We are working toward the day when we can restore the sense of social justice and human dignity that America is lacking today.

In a society thats become as greedy as ours, and a culture thats become as crude as ours, those kinds of ideals would probably be dismissed as too idealistic. That is exactly right -- it is idealistic -- and worth fighting for.

We have to see the bigger purpose behind everything we do on a day-to-day basis. We cant let ourselves fall into the mindset of being victims, worrying about what "they" are doing to us. Ive said it before, and it bears repeating. Henry Miller, -- J.T. Kelley, and the rest of the founders of the IBEW are revered today because they took responsibility for their future and the future of all electrical workers. They focused on the task at hand -- organizing a union and creating a structure in which it could grow. But they also saw beyond the present and envisioned a future where the electrical industry was safe, and prosperous for workers. And we are the beneficiaries of their vision.

If we are going to carry on that vision, we need to start by living up to our ideals. We need to be the best-trained work force delivering the highest quality performance. We need to live up to our commitments and agreements and provide a fair days work for a fair days pay -- both to our employers and to those who buy our services and products. We need to be the very best at what we do so that others will want to join us and be part of our Brotherhood and our movement.

Those are the basics of our work. The basics of our calling in the trade union movement are to seek justice beyond the job site as well. We need to raise our collective voice as part of the public debate. We need to mobilize our members to give back to their communities. Weve got to counter the big money interests with spirit and numbers and hard work to elect officials who respond to the needs of the people.

This is what we do on a daily basis. This is what makes the IBEW stand out. If I harp on our responsibilities and if I push our officers and our local leaders on issues like organizing, -- quality of work, substance abuse and others, its because I see how vital it is that we be the best. If we are going to make a mighty contribution to the better future for our country, we have got to stand tall and lead the way.

I am asking that you keep in mind the bigger purpose behind everything you do. Yes, we are up against some very powerful opponents. But as Lee Greenwood sang at our convention in 2001, "The flag still stands for freedom, and they cant take that away." They cant take our spirit and they cant buy our hearts and minds either.

You all work hard to make life better for your brothers and sisters. I am asking you to dig deep and find the strength to carry on the fight. That kind of spirit is what made the IBEW great, will sustain us in good times and bad. Our principles as trade union members will help us not just see things as they are and ask why, but to see what could be and should be and demand to know why not?

Our cause is bigger than any single one of us. And our goals cannot be won by any one of us alone. It is only when our countless individual efforts come together as one mighty force that we will turn our ideals into a new reality for our members and our country.

Brothers and Sisters keep up the good work and I know that you will continue to give just a little more of yourself to the ideals of your local union our brotherhood and all of the trade union movement.

Thank you and God bless each and every one of you.