Every member of our union should take pride in the IBEW's reputation for facing changing circumstances with courage, innovation and confidence.

At this printing, we don't know the results of the 2012 elections. We do know that whether the candidates supported by our union win or lose, we have always focused on holding our elected leaders accountable to the needs of working families across North America, earning their respect through our deeds, not just our words.

In this issue of the Electrical Worker, we feature some local unions and leaders that exemplify the forward-looking style and achievements of a union that is growing, adapting and always learning from its broad experience and membership.

We start with an IBEW deeply committed to building North America's renewable energy sector. Against the majestic backdrop of 6-million-acre Denali National Park, home of Mt. McKinley, the highest peak in North America, members of Anchorage Local 1547 are constructing the largest wind energy project in the state of Alaska, a giant step toward energy independence and a superb stage for the skill and dedication of our members.

At the last IBEW International Convention in 2011, delegates rallied around the need to deepen our ties with our surrounding communities. This issue highlights some brothers and sisters who took their own bold steps into the political arena in 2012, organizing grassroots campaigns in their cities and precincts and challenging opponents who see organized labor not as a key ingredient of our democracy, but as a check on the power of the wealthy.

A tenet of our North American democracies is the extension of opportunity to an ever-widening section of our population to fully participate in our economy and political life. In Kentucky, Louisville Local 369 is helping transform lives and the IBEW's image through a program that is reaching and recruiting a diverse new group of apprentices. We hear the story from the perspective of a future journeyman.

The construction marketplace is dynamic and unforgiving to those who refuse to change. In this issue, we show how Casper, Wyo., Local 322 and Oklahoma City Local 1141 convinced their own contractors and members to support doubling down on both organizing and implementing new classifications. In Quebec, Canada's second biggest province, Montreal Local 568 is winning new members by demonstrating the benefits of IBEW membership to workers who belong to a rival labor federation.

These projects and accomplishments belong to our entire organization. On www.ibew.org, we feature stories about still more milestones from our diverse branches. They include the high-octane community-based campaign by utility locals 420 and 457 to push Connecticut Light and Power to increase staffing and the efforts of thousands of IBEW and CWA members at Verizon in minimizing concessions and winning a new contract.

We encourage our members to send us more stories from which we can learn and draw inspiration for the days, months and years ahead.

Read more: A pipeline into the trades in Kentucky

Read more: Wyoming, Oklahoma working under
recovery agreements

Read more: Public service calls IBEW members