Industry leaders from multiple IBEW branches made the trip to Chicago to shine a light on the positive relationships between their industries and the working people who make them run. Each one highlighted their ability to work with their well-trained workforce to solve problems and address issues before they become obstacles to success, a key component of the IBEW's Code of Excellence.

On May 10, National Electrical Contractors Association Chief Executive Officer David Long and President Kirk Davis addressed the 40th International Convention, each emphasizing the critical need to find enough skilled, unionized workers to meet the ever-increasing demands of a modern electrical revolution.

"The stronger we make our contractors, that we make our IBEW union, the more we can grow, the more work that we can accommodate in our industry," said Davis, who spoke first.

Joint apprenticeship training centers, Davis said, are "one of the best paths people have to get into the industry. This is one of the best things that I think that our two groups do together, to provide the education and the training to apprentices. We need to share what it means to be an electrician and the quality of life that we can have."

"If anything keeps us up at night as leaders, it's about where we go to get the people," Long said. "For the first time in 60 years, the traveling worker cannot bail us out of this problem.

"People that have not been allowed to work in this industry because we would not open our doors to diversity, equity and inclusion, they deserve what we've got," Long said. "That is our destiny."

Thousands of IBEW broadcast members work each year for Fox Sports, one of the largest partners of the Broadcast branch of the IBEW.

On Day 4 of the 40th International Convention, Senior Vice President for Field and Technical Management and Operations at Fox Sports Michael Davies spoke to the assembly to celebrate that relationship.

For the last 15 years, Davies and his team have overseen all aspects of production planning for Fox Sports' national broadcast and cable productions including soccer, NFL, MLB, college and motor sports and many others.

"Your brothers and sisters power some of the biggest events on the planet with Fox Sports, in the trucks and on the field," he said. "These men and women make up our camera and audio people, our video engineers and replay operators, the technical directors, graphics operators, and fiber optics technicians, just to name a few disciplines. And our family of IBEW members are Hall of Famers, Emmy Award winners, and industry legends. These are the 'magic' women and men who work their butts off to bring the sports to the country that bring us together as a nation."

IBEW members will broadcast the Super Bowl, World Series, Daytona 500, the All Star Game, and the Westminster Kennel Dog Show. "The Super Bowl of dogs," he said.

Davies celebrated what he called the "partnership" between Fox Sports and the IBEW, citing the close work the two organizations did throughout the pandemic and in solving the labor shortage in the industry that it made worse.

"I know Lonnie believes this, and it has been proven at Fox — we can do many more things working with each other than working against each other," he said. "I feel badly for those companies who see it any other way."

Nuclear Energy Institute President and CEO Maria Korsnick told the convention on May 11 that enthusiasm for nuclear energy as a carbon-free solution to the climate change crisis continues to rise — and that is very good news for IBEW members.

"It is the key to a carbon-​free energy future," Korsnick said, drawing applause from delegates and others at McCormick Place. "We need to invest in every carbon-free tool at our disposal to bring these emissions down to zero.

"But make no mistake, nuclear energy isn't just one of those tools. Nuclear technology is the tool that makes it all possible," she said.

Nuclear looked to be the energy source most likely to be phased out for most of the last 40 years. Plants across the country were closed due to safety and cost concerns. Other opponents thought their presence took away from investments in solar and wind.

But public officials have re-thought that stance recently. Nuclear has proven to be as clean as other non-fossil fuel sources and more reliable.

Korsnick noted there are now more than 100 pieces of legislation at the state and federal levels calling for investments in nuclear. Even West Virginia, where the coal industry has been a dominating force for more than a century, passed into law a bill earlier this year doing away with the state's longtime prohibition of nuclear power plants.

"We don't talk enough about what makes nuclear itself possible," Kornisk said. "And that's all of you. Our industry has a long, fruitful history with organized labor, including with this brotherhood. Generations of electricians, welders, engineers and operators built the current fleet of nuclear reactors.

"This generation, you here today, and young people in training programs starting their careers, are going to build the nuclear fleet of tomorrow."

A human resources manager may seem an unlikely guest on a union stage, but Garan Chivinski of Ingeteam USA got a warm reception May 11 as he touted his company's Code of Excellence pact with Milwaukee Local 2150.

About 70 IBEW members work at Ingeteam Milwaukee, which Chivinski said "is proud to be the only place where wind turbines are built right here in the United States."

New employees and managers learn about the Code of Excellence at orientation, he said, adding that Local 2150 Assistant Business Manager Mike Bruening, who services the unit, "insisted that the Code training is mandated in the union contract."

Summing up Ingeteam's understanding of the Code's values, Chivinski said, "Focus on quality. Don't fear change. Keep each other honest and efficient. It is simple, profound, and true. If the product's quality does not impress the customer, everybody, union and non, will lose."