The NFL and WNBA fans among you have likely already seen the IBEW's latest ad campaign promoting the benefits of membership in our great union. Along with the campaign's sister site, IBEWYes.org, it's driving huge numbers of interested candidates nationwide to the IBEW.

But it is not just TV. We are also talking to prospective members on social media, telling the stories of real members sharing how the IBEW has improved their lives.

It is a big investment but a necessary one because there is no greater priority for the IBEW right now than organizing. We are facing a once-in-a-generation chance to grow the union to levels we have not seen in decades, and we need to seize the moment.

Organized labor is more popular than ever, with high-profile union victories like the auto and dock workers strikes making it clear to working America that only collective bargaining gives workers the power to win higher wages and better benefits.

And interest in unions will continue to grow, because labor is most popular with the youngest generations. A poll commissioned by the AFL-CIO last year found that nearly 9 in 10 people under 30 approve of unions.

Another reason organizing is so critical is that jobs in our industries are exploding. A construction boom for semiconductor factories, battery plants, data centers, EV charging infrastructure, renewable power projects, new transmission work and more has created an unprecedented hunger in the economy for electrical workers.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that we'll see 70,000 new electricians a year. We are also expecting to see significant growth in the telecommunications and manufacturing workforce because of investments from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act and the CHIPS and Science Law.

We need to organize for the simple reason that we need the manpower to staff the work. If the IBEW cannot do it, then our competition will, and we will lose power and relevance.

More members means more power to demand higher wages. It strengthens our health and retirement benefits, and it gives us more political leverage.

Our ads are effective because they show actual members telling their stories. You are the IBEW's best organizers.

When workers hear from others like themselves, they are more likely to listen.

So, if you see an opportunity to have a conversation with a nonunion worker, take it.

If you know of a workplace that belongs in the IBEW, tell your business manager.

And talk about the IBEW and all the good things it has done for you and your family in your community.

Post a link to IBEWYes.org while you're at it.

Thank you for doing your part to make sure the IBEW continues to grow and thrive so we're still around in another 130 years. Future generations of electrical workers are counting on the work each of us does right now to meet this moment.

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