Remembering
International Vice President
Brian Malloy

Campaigning for Change
Inside the IBEW Effort to
Turn Out the Vote

A Lineman's Journey
IBEW Family Tells Daughter's Recovery Story in New Book

IBEWVotes2020.org
Don't Be Silenced.
Check Resources for
Voting in Your State

North of 49°
Ontario Local Begins Innovative Apprenticeship

Au nord du 49° parallèle
Le local d'Ontario lance un programme d'apprentissage innovant

Tony Brand

IEC Minutes
May 2020

Fee Payers Plan for 2021

It wasn't inevitable that Elizabeth Warren's presidential campaign staff would approach the IBEW to represent them. On the surface, it didn't seem an obvious match.

At its simplest, they weren't electrical workers. The IBEW builds office buildings, keeps the electricity flowing to them. But most of its members, with a few notable exceptions, don't actually work in them.

But Second District International Representative Ed Starr said that when he met with the Warren workers, he told them the career of a campaign worker is really not so different from the life of a journeyman wireman.

"Every campaign, even the successful ones, like every construction project, ends. A career is built on a series of jobs, a series of employers," he said. "What they want is what IBEW-founder Henry Miller wanted: decent wages, good conditions and respect no matter the job, no matter the employer."

Over the final months of 2019, Starr and International Lead Organizers Steve Smith and Steve Rockafellow organized Warren's campaign into Manchester, N.H., Local 2320, the Pete Buttigieg campaign workers into Middleton, Mass., Local 2321, and the staff for Tom Steyer's run into Worcester, Mass., Local 2325.

At peak, for several weeks in the beginning of 2020, the IBEW represented more than 1,700 Democratic presidential campaign workers.

The speed and popularity of the organizing shouldn't be a surprise. Campaign work — outside of leadership — tends to be a young person's game, and a 2018 Gallup poll showed that 66% of people ages 18 to 34 approve of labor unions, the highest for any age group.

"I'm a jaded old organizer that's mostly been banging my head against a wall called Comcast. It's been years of pain," Smith said. "This is different. It revitalized me as an organizer because we didn't organize them; we shared their goal and we built a partnership. We had one shot this spring. We had to do it right and I think we did."

Stephenson & Cooper:
Make a Plan to Vote Today

Gina P. Cooper

NLRB Deals New Blow to Workers' Safety, Security in COVID-19 Era;
Study: Unions Increase Political Power for Poor and Working People

Tennessee Electrician Invents an Equipment-Saving Lubricant;
Ottawa Local Shares
Outdoor Space to Help Neighboring Restaurant During Coronavirus;
IBEW Members Restore Historic Bells at
California High School;
In Colorado Springs,
Local and EWMC Partner to Give Weekend Food to Families in Need

Leading on Safety

August 2020

Arizona Locals' Giving
Spirit Leads to
Unforgettable Day