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I'd like to take this opportunity to thank our President Emeritus Jack Barry-the subject of so many richly deserved tributes this week-for appointing me to the International staff in 1987, and International Vice President in 1995, for his confidence and support throughout my career with our great Brotherhood.

And I would be remiss if I did not add my welcome and thanks to my good friend Jack Moore. Now that I hold the office he once filled, I have an even deeper appreciation of his innovative spirit and dedication to our Brotherhood.

Just as the team of Jack Barry and Ed Hill brought us closer to realizing our goals, so too I have begun to work with President Hill-already recognized as one of the finest leaders in the labor movement-in that same spirit of teamwork to keep the IBEW moving forward. Any action I take or decision I make as International Secretary will be based on one standard-the best interest of the men and women who go to work every morning, and who are the might and foundation of the IBEW.

The job of International Secretary-Treasurer is much more than counting heads and cashing checks. My duties include a never-ending search for ways to utilize the considerable might of our pension funds for the best interests of our members-active and retired. That means using our investments to create union jobs and foster good labor-management relations. And it also means using our status as shareholders to keep the corporate feet to the fire on issue of good governance and worker fairness. My job also mandates that I seek ways to make the financial tasks of our local leadership easier through implementation of efficient and effective systems.

That's a tall order. But the good news is we're not starting from scratch. One of the great strengths of the IBEW is its tradition of excellence. That applies to the entire operation under the purview of the International Secretary-Treasurer. We have a dedicated and capable team of International staff, NEBF investment professionals and attorneys whose daily work keeps our financial house in order. And I would like to salute them for the assistance and cooperation they have given me since I assumed this office.

Let's talk money. The stock market has fallen faster than a jogger's socks. You might assume that our funds might be in trouble because of this. I am happy to say that you would be wrong. We were well positioned to ride the crest of the wave in the late 1990s. Now, we are also well positioned to land on the beach softly. Our funds seek solid, prudent growth, but they also stress value management-that is, taking the money earned and safeguarding it through wise investments. In 2000, we once again outperformed the universe of pension funds, despite the volatility of the markets. And we will continue with the same steady hand this year and beyond.

Following the first rule of investment-not to mention common sense-we do not keep all our eggs in one basket-we have approximately 15 percent of our portfolio in real estate. This provides a valuable counter-balance to our equity investments and is the source of thousands of jobs for our members.

In recent years, President Hill told attendees at this conference of Project Millennium. This is our real estate investment strategy that includes targeting only the highest quality real estate projects, with the strongest expected performances. Through Project Millennium, we have already identified numerous opportunities in some of the major markets in North America, which are helping us to fulfill our goals. The slowing economy can actually be good for us because banks are being more stingy about their lending practices for construction. That makes our funds-as alternative sources of capital-more attractive to developers. So once again, we are in a good position for the future.

You will hear more about Project Millennium through a video and some printed material available at this conference. I urge all of you to take a close look at this information.

You heard President Hill a few minutes ago introduce the Online Reciprocal Transfer system. We call it "ORT". Though the nickname may not be melodious, the system's function will be music to your ears. ORT was one of President Hill's priorities when he was Secretary-Treasurer, and I am happy to carry on with the development and implementation of this system.

ORT is an electronic online system that will provide your pension funds the ability to communicate and transfer information and money via a private, highly secure site on the Internet. I don't think many of you would argue with the contention that reciprocity of pension and health funds in the construction branch of our Brotherhood was one of the best things we did for our members. Even fewer would disagree with the frequent complaint that our system took too long for our members' money to be transferred.

ORT System will address that problem. Your funds will be required to pay a fee-yet to be determined-to utilize the system. This fee will cover only the cost of developing and maintaining ORT. It is President Hill's and my belief that ORT will enable you to process in a few days what now takes many weeks. This will mean that your members will have their Health & Welfare money back quickly and not have to make self-payments to maintain their insurance. It will mean they will get their pension money back into their home accounts faster so that they are earning interest sooner. ORT will pay for itself in terms of ease, quickness and the reduction in aggravation.

The only way to ensure that this new system will work efficiently is to have all of the funds utilizing this system. So we will be calling on all of you who are trustees to get your funds signed up and on board so that your members can benefit.

ORT won't work if the fund from the local where your members are working is not signed up and your fund is-or vice versa. Stop by and see International Representative Jim Combs and the individuals from OTVnet, who are developing the system for us, in the registration area for a demonstration of the ORT System as it currently stands. It is our intention to have the ORT System available in the very near future.

I mentioned earlier that we have been more aggressive in voting our shares in stock in numerous corporations to promote issues of good corporate governance. Through this program, we have aggressively sought opportunities at stockholders' meetings and elsewhere to call attention to the labor policies of a number of companies. Let me give you a few examples of how we are utilizing our pension assets to gain more work for our members.

Local 347 in Des Moines, Iowa, was recently having some difficulty at the headquarters of the Principle Financial Group. Principle had awarded a $2 million electrical job to a nonunion contractor. Through the contacts we have developed with Principle at the national level, we were able to open discussions between Local 347 Business Manager Ron Belcher and key people at the company. As a result of this, Principle agreed to award the majority of this work to an IBEW signatory contractor.

Like everything else the IBEW undertakes, working with the business community to secure opportunities for our members is a team effort. We have been most successful when the International has worked closely with our Vice Presidents, local unions, and local building trades councils. This shows the local business community that people in their own back yards are important players in their area. And it helps to build-or in some cases solidify-relationships between local building trades leaders and those who make the financial decisions that create work for the members. There is no substitute for this kind of local involvement.

I gave you an example where we have been successful in using our pension assets to secure work for our membership; but I must also say that we have contacted some companies that apparently intend to continue to shut us out of the process.

At the top of the list is Walgreens. A year ago, President Hill told you how this aggressive chain is opening a new drug store every 23 hours or less. We met with Walgreens to discuss how the IBEW and our contractors could be of assistance to them in providing the skilled manpower they need on those projects on a nationwide basis.

Unfortunately, it has become clear in the last year that they are not serious about giving our members a fair opportunity to work on their projects. By now the membership should have seen the article on Walgreens in the January/February issue of the IBEW Journal and should act according to their conscience about whether they want to shop at Walgreens.

We have also been disappointed with companies like Lowe's and Home Depot. Although these companies will build union when they feel they have no other choice, they continue to keep us off many projects across the country. I promise you that we will continue our efforts at the national level to secure this work.

Another element in our effort to make maximum use of our pension assets is to continue to push for the participation of local funds in the Investment Tracking Service. In the past year, we have added seven new funds that have started to supply their information to ITS. But that's still only 87 out of 313 funds - just a fourth of our pension funds participating. We need to do better, and I will be working on that, so those of you not participating can expect to hear from me.

We have changed the name from the IBEW Tracking System to the IBEW/NECA Tracking System. We have hired the Marco Consulting Group to do all the data entry to provide better tracking of our holdings. We have also asked that participating funds send their information directly to Marco to allow for quicker and more accurate reporting.

I also want to update you on the IBEW/NECA Proxy Voting Service or PVS. This service was introduced five years ago as another way for us to influence Corporate North America. Today there are approximately 100 IBEW/NECA pension funds participating. Last year President Hill reported that there was a reduction in the annual fee for the Proxy Voting Service from $1,950 to $1,500.

We must continue to work to get 100 percent of our funds to use the PVS. This is the best way for the trustees of all the IBEW/NECA funds to know the stock is being voted to support our issues.

Let me also clear up any confusion that may still persist about the tracking services and proxy voting. These are two separate programs and signing up for the Investment Tracking System does not automatically sign you up for the Proxy Voting Service or vice versa. The Investment Tracking is free - just send in all information on the holding of your funds to Marco. The Proxy Voting Service has a cost, as mentioned earlier.

Again, as has been the practice in the past, I urge you to stop by the registration area and see Jim Combs or Jim Voye at the ITS booth. There is also a booth in that area for the Proxy Voting Service.

Our leverage with companies is greatly expanded by the IBEW/NECA Investment Tracking and Proxy Voting Services. I can assure you that using your pension fund assets for the betterment of our membership will remain a major priority of the IBEW.

I know that many of you will be staying on for the Building and Construction Trades Department's Legislative Conference. Believe me, there is a lot to talk about.

Let me just say that from day one, the Bush Administration, Act II, has been no friend of ours. Already, our construction membership has taken two hits.

First, Bush hit us hard with his Executive Order banning Project Labor Agreements on projects using federal funding. We all know the importance of PLAs. This was the first payoff to the ABC and others who filled Bush's campaign coffers early and often.

A second outrage took place through a collusion between the White House and the Republican leadership in Congress. Under cover a rarely used law, Congress upended ten years of hard work to develop and implement OSHA standards to protect workers from the ill effects of repetitive motion injuries. The ergonomics standards was first voted down in the Senate, and then in the House with some Democratic defectors and some Republicans who supported working people. President Bush gleefully signed their handiwork into law last week.

This action was an insult to every man and woman who toils for a living. Whether you pound keyboards all day or use the tools of your trade, ergonomics are a recognized part of health and safety n the modern workplace. But the standard was viewed as hurting the bottom line. So business interests said it had it go, and the current political leadership of the country saluted and took action.

We need to hunker down and play defense in the short run, but we can not live in a protective crouch for long. Our first priority is to keep IBEW-COPE a strong and effective political force. You have heard a great deal about the campaign finance reform debate going on in this town. We are watching it closely to make sure that the wealthy and powerful interests don't come out of this with even more power than they currently have. But keep in mind that nobody is talking about limiting the so-called "hard money" contributions, which is what voluntary COPE money to candidates comes from. So we still need COPE and we will be working to keep it strong.

Our long-term goal, however, includes more. We must implement a stronger and more effective grassroots political education and mobilization system. Labor's greatest strength is its numbers. IBEW members and those in other unions represent a tremendous base of support for pro-worker candidates. We have gotten better at this in recent elections. In 1998, we rediscovered our grassroots strength and built upon that in 2000. Without labor, Al Gore would not even have come close to the victory that many of us think he earned. But we still have room for improvement.

Our message becomes weaker if it only goes out right before the election and comes to our members in a vacuum. President Hill and I strongly believe that we need to communicate with our members more consistently to educate them as to what's going on in the political arena that directly affects their job. Our members need to know what is happening to them in Washington, DC, right now. We can't just recap it before the 2002 elections and expect them to pay attention.

We are looking at ways to foster this on the International level. And we are also working with the AFL-CIO to develop more effective ways to help you implement education and mobilization programs. I can assure you that this will be among our top priorities as we struggle to keep our union moving forward across unfriendly political terrain.

Sisters and brothers, we have our work cut out for us. We have accomplished much in our history, and our history shows that we are strongest when we stand together. I am proud to stand with President Hill as we lead the fight on all fronts for our members. But I am equally proud to stand with you, our local leadership, and our members, to secure our future. I don't claim to be perfect, but I can truthfully say that I have never, from my first day in this great union, given anything less than my absolute best effort. I pledge to you here and now that you will never receive anything less than my total commitment and dedication to our cause, the cause of justice and dignity for our members.

Thank you.

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