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Crossing the Bridge to Opportunity September 2001 IBEW Journal
This month, delegates from throughout the IBEW gather in San Francisco for our 36th International Convention. And what a sight it will be. Those who stand on the stage of the massive convention hall of the Moscone Center will look out over some 2,600 delegates representing virtually every local union in the Brotherhood. These delegates will be the democratically elected representatives of our 775,000 members. They will be there to speak for you in the discussions and debates that will guide the policies of our union for the next five years. Equally important, their presence will help build the sense of solidarity and camaraderie that is so important in the labor movement. Workers are never so vulnerable as when they feel isolated and powerless in the struggle for justice and dignity on the job. The convention also serves to reinforce the feeling among your elected delegates that no one is in the fight alone. Each of us has hundreds of thousands of IBEW brothers and sisters standing with us. This is a feeling that we hope the delegates convey to their fellow members in their home locals. The theme of this years convention is Your Bridge to Opportunity. We chose that because of the two landmark bridges which are part of the world famous San Francisco skylinethe Golden Gate and the Bay Bridge. They symbolize what the IBEW has meant to generation after generation of workers in the electrical industrythe means to gain a decent life and the opportunity to use ones skills to the fullest and go as far as ones talents can take one. We have come through a turbulent time for the labor movement and emerged a different union. The kinds of jobs we once depended on are gone. Lifetime employment in utilities, telecommunications and manufacturing is no longer a guarantee. The very nature of construction work is changing due to the technological revolution of the digital age. Yet through it all there is now, as there always has been, a demand for skill, ability and intelligencethe qualities on which IBEW members pride themselves. There is opportunity for those prepared to seize it. A 21st century union with a long history like ours has many goals. Our fundamental mission of organizing the unorganized and bringing all workers in our crafts under our banner is a permanent and immutable goalthe rock on which this Brotherhood was built. Our quest for decent pay, solid benefits and job security remains the same. Our modern mission also includes the need for continual training and education throughout an electrical workers career. It includes political education and mobilization to ensure that our voices are heard in the halls of government where decisions that affect our lives are made. It includes building true partnerships with employers and other organizations to advance mutual goals while standing firm against any and all attempts to weaken our members rights. Our goal at this convention is to set the course for a future that is in keeping with the progressive traditions of the IBEW. This convention will set the tone for how we as a Brotherhood respond to the challenges before us, and there is certainly no shortage of problems to face and overcome. Our predecessors stayed abreast of each new eramaking the IBEW Your Bridge to Opportunityand built the IBEW into a diverse and vibrant union that refused to leave any member behind. Our members are our union, and in the case of the IBEW that means proud, dedicated workers in whom our traditions have molded a genuine sense of community and family. We are indeed a union in which solidarity knows no bounds. The test for all of the IBEW is to use that spirit of unity to build success stories in bargaining, organizing, training and political/legislative action. The next issue of the Journal that you receive will be a combined October/November issue that will report extensively on all of the activities of and the actions taken by the convention. For the first time, members can also keep abreast of the convention as it happens. Our web sitewww.ibew.orgwill feature daily updates of all convention action, including photographs and a streaming video highlights package. We will be using the technology that is playing an increasingly important role in the working lives of many IBEW members to keep you informed of the conventions progress. We welcome the future. And we intend to greet the future appropriately in San Francisco, democratically assembled with our brothers and sisters in our 36th International Convention. Ed Hill Jerry O'Connor |
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