Union Strong
Chicago's Long
and Extraordinary
Labor History

2021 Photo
Contest Winners

North of 49°
A Return to the
IBEW Family for
Members Keeping
North America Safe

Au nord du 49° parallèle
Un retour à la FIOE pour
les membres qui assurent
la sécurité de l'Amérique
du Nord

Convening the
Brotherhood

Chicago is a Union Town
Delegates Come to America's Crossroads
for 40th International Convention

For the fifth time, the IBEW is calling delegates from across North America together to the Windy City.

Only the union's birthplace, St. Louis, has hosted more conventions, but it's been nearly 70 years since the last time delegates gathered at America's great crossroads.

The last time the IBEW convention came to Chicago in 1954, half the working population of the city had a union card in their pocket.

And while the numbers today aren't quite so overwhelming, delegates are still coming to one of America's great union towns.

"There's never been a nonunion tower crane in this city. Not ever," said Chicago Local 134 Business Manager Don Finn. "We are the number one union town in America. The IBEW wouldn't be the IBEW without Chicago."

Chicagoland is a vast nation within the nation starting at Lake Michigan and extending across at least 16 counties, three states and more than 10,000 square miles.

And it has room to welcome all May 9 to 13. McCormick Place, delegates' home for the weeklong gathering, is the largest convention center in the country

But there is no traditional host committee, because where does one draw the cutoff?

Six locals have Chicago addresses, but another 13 have jurisdictions within reach of The Loop, Chicago's downtown core, doing every kind of job in the IBEW.

Stephenson & Cooper:
Preparing for the Future

David J. Ruhmkorff;
Paul A. Noble;
Brian Baker;
Kirk Brungard;
Dennis Phelps;
Mary N. O'Brien;
Clif Davis;
Brian Heins;
Tony Maghrak

March 2022

Chicago's 'Hip-Hop
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