Leaders of electrical unions from around the world descended on Chicago to show solidarity with the IBEW during the 40th International Convention. Representing Australian, Irish and Danish tradesmen and tradeswomen, the leaders of their respective unions showed that the struggle for workers' rights is universal and that the language and bonds of union solidarity know no borders.

The leader of Australia's Electrical Trades Union traveled halfway around the world to address IBEW members, but there was nothing distant in what he shared about the battles workers are waging back home.

Allen Hicks, national secretary of the ETU, told his North American audience of fights for jobs and safety during the COVID-19 pandemic, for economic and political justice, and other hot button issues such as the transition to clean energy.

Describing the ETU as one of Australia's biggest unions, with more than 65,000 members, he said, "Though it may seem small in comparison to your strong brotherhood, we punch well above our weight."

International President Lonnie R. Stephenson welcomed Hicks on the convention's fourth afternoon, saying, "ETU's members represent the best of Australia's electrical trades, and we couldn't be prouder to call them our sisters and brothers."

Hicks profusely thanked IBEW members for their generosity as he described how Australians have suffered from "major weather disaster after disaster."

"We were hit with unprecedented bushfires that burned 880 million acres of land, floods, storms and drought that have threatened most corners of the country," he said. "I know that here in America and in Canada you have also faced severe weather events."

"When times are tough, you learn who has your back," he said, saluting the IBEW for aid that helped working people recover from the devastating 2019-2020 megafires.

"The donations from the IBEW and individual locals was a massive gesture, and it reinforced in my mind, that solidarity knows no borders, and that our community is also your community," he said.

Paddy Kavanagh, the general secretary of Ireland's Connect Union, called for continued cooperation between his union and the IBEW and paid tribute to Irish immigrants who were instrumental in the U.S. labor movement when he spoke to the convention on May 10.

"Unions around the world must work together more and more on both a practical and strategic level to deliver for their members and workers generally," Kavanagh said. "Connect Trade Union is willing to play their part in whatever way they can."

"These work and political issues along with common social issues which affect how our members work and earn their living are what brings us together as workers and trade unionists," he said.

In celebration of his union's 100th anniversary, Kavanagh pointed to the many contributions of Irish immigrants around the world, particularly in the U.S. labor movement. P.J. McGuire, a second-generation Irish American, was a co-founder of the American Federation of Labor in 1886.

"It is well established that immigrants arrived on these shores determined to make a better life for themselves and party to that was a resolve to create a better society as opposed to the unequal ones they had left behind," said Kavanagh, thanking Second District International Vice President Mike Monahan and International Representative for Business Development Tiler Eaton for their help in his research.

"One avenue where [the Irish] could have a say and where they could have influence is through the trade union movement as that movement is the true voice for workers," he said. "I am very proud of the role the Irish have played in the U.S. and here in Chicago. Long may it continue."

The head of the Danish Union of Electricians addressed convention delegates on May 13 with a message of international solidarity.

"Thank you for inviting the Danish Union of Electricians to visit your 40th convention," General Secretary Jørgen Juul Rasmussen said. "We are all … having a fantastic week we will never forget."

Heaping praise on the IBEW for its influence and solidarity, he noted that despite the distance between Denmark and the U.S., he learned at the convention and talking with delegates just how much we have in common.

"Brothers and sisters, we are the only ones to fight for justice and fair conditions for electrical workers," he said. "I'm hopeful that step-by-step we will win more and more fights for organizing, for justice and for fair conditions, and an even for a more fair society."

Rasmussen went on to note the increased globalization of the world and what it means for global workers' rights. "When we want more victories, we must also fight together, in solidarity, over the borders, over the Atlantic and over the Pacific Ocean," he said.

We live in a world with multinational companies, Rasmussen said, which makes us even more connected.

"As you know, when the multinational companies move across borders to do jobs and score profits and push for nonunion jobs and low paid jobs, we must as electricians and trade unions, we must be even more connected," he said.

Rasmussen also noted that Danish companies like Ørsted are building offshore wind in the U.S., having recently signed a project labor agreement with North America's Building Trades Unions.

"I know Ørsted very well. They are a well-behaving company back in Denmark. They have a collective agreement in Denmark, so I told them there is no need to behave different when you go to the States."

We must live with cross border work and companies going abroad, Rasmussen said, but we should never tolerate the lack of agreements.