In the first IBEW Constitution's preamble, the founders announced an ambitious call to action: "We invite all men belonging to our trade to come forward, join our ranks, and increase our number, until such time as there shall be no man working at our trade outside our Brotherhood."

Of course, the nature and breadth of the electrical trade was much different then. In the 1890s, targets for organizing were telegraph and telephone linemen, light fixture repairmen and the occasional manufacturing shop worker. In fact, the only industries listed in the Constitution until 1909 were "inside" and "outside," and the IBEW's organizational chart listed just six executive officers.

As the union expanded and the nature of electrical work diversified, a need for regional structures became apparent. In 1903, vice-presidential districts were created to better coordinate organizing efforts and address contract disputes. But with the inclusion of railroad systems, whose electrical workers often crossed multiple districts, a new grouping was needed: system councils.

Taking their lead from the American Federation of Labor, which was organizing railroad workers from various trades under "system federations," IBEW system councils comprised local unions that held agreements with one railroad company, allowing sets of locals to act as a unit when negotiating with employers, instead of as competitors.

Creating a united front was important, especially for the railroad industry after World War I. During the war, the U.S. rail system was nationalized and a period of relative harmony followed, marked by the establishment of the eight-hour day and the right for shop crafts to fully unionize. But when the war ended, the railroads passed back into private hands and executives were eager to claw back the rights and benefits our members had achieved.

The first IBEW system council was organized in 1919 during an AFL convention in Los Angeles. The primary business of the convention was formation of an AFL system federation gathering boilermakers, machinists, carmen, electrical workers and others employed by the Southern Pacific Railroad.

Representing the electrical workers were officers from eight IBEW locals, who chartered a system council, drafted bylaws and elected a business agent. Los Angeles Local 851, one local at the convention, wrote The Electrical Worker urging "all eligible locals to get busy and affiliate themselves with the Council so that we can band ourselves together and demand the rights that belong to us."

The effort was quickly replicated with the formation of System Council 2 in the Midwest and, later that year, System Council 3 for locals working with the Pennsylvania Railroad Co.

The movement grew fast enough to necessitate changes to the Constitution. In 1921, at the 16th IBEW Convention, delegates created Article XXIX to govern railroad system councils, requiring them to apply for charters, define jurisdictions, adopt bylaws and establish a dues structure, much like the requirements for locals.

This provided a strong foundation for the council system, which proved indispensable in July 1922, when the Railroad Labor Board bowed to corporate pressure and approved nationwide wage reductions. Over 400,000 rail workers went on strike across the country. The federal government ended the strike a few months later, but thankfully many IBEW locals were able to reach agreements through negotiations led by the system councils. Over the next 20 years, the strength and number of the councils grew, and by 1946, the IBEW had 24 railroad system councils.

Expanding councils to industries beyond railroads was proposed by International President Dan Tracy in 1941 at the 21st IBEW convention. At the time, the IBEW had just organized an association of broadcast technicians, and to help encourage their growth, a Broadcast Technicians Unit was created at the International Office with authority to charter locals. The innovation was heralded as a success, and soon locals began calling for the expansion of the council system.

Speaking at the 25th IBEW convention in 1954, International President John Milne said "these boards and councils are necessary in other fields so that our local unions can act as a unit in dealing with the employer and, where needed, employ full-time business representatives." Organizers immediately got to work. By the next convention in 1958, three councils had been formed in electrical manufacturing, four in telephone and 26 in utility.

Later came the creation of "coordinating councils," which still exist in the cable, construction, government, telephone and utility industries. As for system councils, there are two for electrical manufacturing, five for railroad, six for telephone, and nine for utility.

IBEW's system councils have been a highly successful vehicle for coordinated bargaining. They have allowed locals representing all employees of one company to bargain as a unit — the type of teamwork that defines what it means to be in a union.