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Why is the IBEW Organizing?

There seems to be several myths about this question, some of which are as follows:

*  The IBEW wants more members strictly to increase their funds by way of collecting more
    dues.
*  The IBEW wants to bring in non-union electricians to take their jobs from them by putting
    existing union members to work ahead of the new members.
*  The IBEW wants to put the non-union contractors out of business  by way of denying  them
    qualified electricians.

The truth is the IBEW is a labor organization dedicated to the Labor Movement. Which means that their members believe that all working men and women are entitled to the same wages and benefits, regardless of whether they are working on jobs that must pay prevailing wages due to Federal, State or Local laws or whether they are in the IBEW.

As workers the IBEW believes that contractors should compete on their business abilities and their estimating skills, not on how little they can pay their employees nor on how bad of working conditions their employees will tolerate. If the workers do not join together, both wages and working conditions will deteriorate. Without the presence of the Union, electrical work would be another minimum wage industry. Up until a few years ago the electrical industry in Memphis was on a down hill spiral. Non-union electrician wages were steadily going down and Union wages were stagnating. Since that time the wages and benefits have been on the rise in both sectors. It is no accident that this has happened. The contractors did not all of a sudden decide that it would be a good idea. The reason wages and benefits have risen is because the IBEW is organizing.  The reason is, when workers join together, contractors know that they can no longer drive wages down by telling you to take it or leave it.

These are the reasons the IBEW is organizing. Organizing makes Sense!

A Union is an organization of workers who join together for a common purpose, for mutual aid and protection, to engage in concerted activity and collective bargaining, ultimately to elevate our conditions of life and labor.

A Union is an organization by which ordinary people do extraordinary things. It is a means by which individual workers, who are vulnerable to the indignities heaped upon them by powerful employers, organize and transform themselves into a powerful and cohesive force to remake their world!

YOU  DO!

YOU elect your own local union officers.
YOU run your own local union affairs.
YOU have your own negotiating committee.
YOU make the decisions on your own union contract.
YOU have your own shop stewards.
YOU decide important policies and actions of your own union by majority vote.
YOU elect your international officers.
YOU elect your own delegates to the international conventions.
YOU- the membership - are the final voice of authority and decision in your Union.

Our union exists for one and only one major reason - the good of our members. Our union, the IBEW, accomplishes as a group what we cannot accomplish as individuals.

The IBEW is committed to the advancement of the Wages, Benefits, and Working Conditions of All Electricians!

What does "Joining the IBEW" mean?

Joining the IBEW means that you will be a part of an organization whose objectives are :

* To promote reasonable methods of work,
* To cultivate feelings of friendship among those of our industry,
* To settle all disputes between employers and employees by arbitration (if possible),
* To assist each other in sickness or distress,
* To secure employment,
* To reduce the hours of daily labor,
* To secure adequate pay for our work,
* To seek a higher and higher standard of living,
* To seek security for the individual,
* And by legal and proper means to elevate the morale, intellectual and social conditions of our
    members, their families and dependents, in the interest of a higher standard of citizenship.

 The IBEW cares about You and Your Family!

Not only is this a myth, it is against the law. Local 474 has a nondiscriminatory job referral procedure that is bound by the National Labor Relations Act. The person who signs the out-of-work list first is given first choice of job referrals. There is no seniority policy and no one has to take a job they do not want. 

Where it may seem to some that this would be an insurmountable question and that there is no good reason to justify the payment of dues, the answer is really quite simple.

Every household, business firm, social or civic organization, church, or government body requires financial support to carry out its functions and responsibilities. Similarly, labor unions needs financial resources to conduct their affairs. Without adequate financial means, it would be impossible for our international union and our local unions to represent the members of our organization properly. The many kinds of services that labor unions provide require financial resources. Contract negotiating, grievance and arbitration handling, representing the interest of our members before the various levels of government, organizing the unorganized, and many other functions all require sufficient funding if our union is to represent our interests adequately in society as a whole and the work place in particular. Therefore, we, as members, have an obligation to recognize that our organization must have adequate financial support if we are going to be effective in representing our interests.

As members of the IBEW, we also have a vote in determining the amount of dues the membership pays. At Local 474 the construction membership has voted to pay the following dues and assessments:

  Monthly Dues - $30.50
  General Fund - 4.5% of Gross
 

In return for these dues and assessments, what do the members get? In addition to what is mentioned above, they get a guaranteed hourly pay rate on their checks, three pension plans, family medical coverage (Which is fully paid for by the contractors.), a market recovery program that helps insure our members work,  an organizing fund that betters the livelihood of not just our members, but all the workers in the electrical industry, and last, but not least, they get collective bargaining to help guarantee increased wages and benefits in the future.

Union dues are an Investment!

This is a common story that is told to keep you from actively investigating the IBEW for yourself. The facts are that construction work is dependent on many factors, the national economy, local economy, interest rates, etc. The demand for construction workers varies from year to year, and month to month. In the recession of the early eighties when there was unemployment for electricians, both union and non-union, some IBEW electricians either had to live off their savings or travel to other areas to find work. But even at the worst times over two-thirds of Local 474 members were working at home.  These electricians enjoy the benefit of carrying the same insurance and pensions from job to job, whether they are home or traveling.

The IBEW is dedicated to establishing uniform standards and wages throughout the industry, so that workers don't have to compete over wages, but get and maintain their jobs based on skills and productivity.

In the union you have greater employment opportunities than an individual working non-union. You have full access to union signatories through our referral system and, if union work locally is slow, you can travel to another local union that has work or you can work for a nonunion contractor as a union salt.

Through the Union, you have the opportunity to work any Job!

The right of an employee to refuse to work is protected by law.  When people decide to cease work (withhold their labor) in order to gain concessions from an employer, or a group of employers, it is called a strike.

Partially because newspapers, radio and TV are inclined to publicize small and insignificant strikes out of proportion to their importance, the true facts are highly misunderstood.  Anti-union companies use the word as a device to scare people away from unions. Reasonable and fair companies have no reason to fear their own employees.

Unions have long recognized that strikes mean serious losses to everyone and must be avoided except as a last possible resort.  Most agreements contain a section which requires that disputes be settled by arbitration and strikes are outlawed.  Arbitration means disputes are decided by an umpire.

No official of a union, or officer of a committee of the Local Union is empowered to call a strike.  A strike can be called only by a majority vote of the members affected.

Local Union 474 members have gone on strike only once in the past 50 years and were only on strike for 2 days.

The contract (or agreement) is the signed document between the electrical contractor or contractors and the local union which describes terms and conditions of employment, such as the following:

  WAGES:  Fair rates of pay for each classification of worker.

  HOURS:  Rest periods, holidays, start time, quit time, overtime, shift work, etc.

  CONDITIONS: Safety and health, personal rights and treatment.

  BENEFITS:  Company paid health and dental insurance, pensions,  training, etc.

Among its most important features will be an orderly system for settling disputes between employees and the company bosses.  This is called a "grievance procedure" and it requires the company to go through successive steps until a satisfactory solution is found to an employee's problem.

Under a written contract, nobody has to guess his rights or seek individual favors from the boss.  All things are spelled out for everyone to see and understand.

 The Contract is the Workers' "Bill of Rights"