The term “brotherhood” has always meant more than just “co-worker.” It’s a reminder that being an IBEW member means you have a family outside of your blood relatives. But for the Doyle brothers of New York Local 3, their biological family has long been intertwined with the IBEW.

Bill, Eugene and Tommy Doyle have been members of Local 3 for a cumulative 180 years. And they’re not even the only Doyle family members to have been IBEW brothers. They all followed in their father’s footsteps.

“Our father always talked up the IBEW,” said Bill, the eldest of the three at 84. “We all joined because of him.”

Surprisingly enough, the journeyman wiremen never worked together. But they all had that familial union solidarity in their hearts as well as their veins.

“I’m proud of being an IBEW member, always have been,” said Eugene, who at 83 is the middle brother. “I had such a colorful career, working at the Shubert Theater for the Tony Awards and different events when President Carter came to town. I enjoyed every moment.”

Despite having the IBEW in their blood, the siblings found their own ways into Local 3. Even the oldest brother of the four siblings, Larry, ended up working in labor relations for Union Carbide. Larry and Bill participated in a summer program started by the longtime Local 3 business manager and renowned labor leader Harry Van Arsdale.

“Harry said that not everyone who goes through the program will join the union, but they’ll remember where they started,” Eugene said. “He was right.”

Unlike Larry and Bill, Eugene went to college after high school. He earned a degree in English but the pull of the Brotherhood led him back to Local 3.

When their father, William, the New York City Chief Electrical Inspector, died, Local 3 President Ed Cleary attended the wake. He told their mother that if there was anything he could do, to let him know.

“Most people say things like that but never follow up. Not Ed Cleary, he did not forget,” Eugene said. “He was a dynamite, wonderful person.”

Eugene recalled an instance when Van Arsdale left his mark. While attending a union meeting, Eugene and the other apprentices heard a booming voice from the side of the room that could not be dismissed.

“He told everybody that they needed to take their hats off; no ifs, ands or buts,” Eugene recalled. “Everyone took their hats off.”

That wasn’t the only time that Eugene, who eventually became a superintendent, crossed paths with Cleary. When he went to the hall to apply for the apprenticeship, he ran into Cleary, who helped the 22-year-old navigate the application process.

“All the other apprentices had been in trade school, and I was sitting there with an English degree,” Eugene recalled. “I just kept my head down and my mouth shut in the beginning.”

Bill had an easier start. He joined Local 3 in 1960 after completing the summer internship.

“I learned from a lot of great people, and I worked with a lot of great people,” he said. “That’s when I decided to join Local 3.”

The union showed up again when Bill joined the Army.

“I was surprised when I got a check for $10 every month from Local 3. That was a lot of money back then,” he said.

The IBEW also counted Bill’s two years in the military toward his benefits.

“That was a tremendous help,” said Bill, who went on to work as a general foreman. “To this day, we’re still reaping the benefits.”

Bill and Eugene, now retirees, are still thankful for all that the IBEW and Local 3 provided for them.

“To this day, whenever I run into another Local 3 member, we always say, ‘Thank God for Harry Van Arsdale and the IBEW.’”