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Address of International Secretary-Treasurer
Jerry J. O'Connor
IBEW Organizing Conference
Chicago, Illinois
October 7, 2003

Thank you, Buddy. Good morning, brothers and sisters, and welcome to Chicago-land, my home area.

Those of us from here take a lot of pride in our area, not least because Chicago is not just a toddlin town, it is also a union town, our kind of town.

And it didnt get to be a union town because the employers thought it would be a nice thing to do for their workers. It didnt get to be a union town because the workers signed cards, presented them to the bosses and then negotiated a first contract. It got to be a union town because of events like the Haymarket Square riot and the Pullman strike, both of which saw workers blood flow in the streets. And both were part of the brutal but necessary birth pangs of a force for social justice a force we call the labor movement.

Thats the world into which the IBEW was born in 1891. And, like President Hill said, every one of the founders of our Brotherhood was an organizer. And they didnt come up against union busting lawyers or against employers who held captive meetings or brainwashed their workers with videos. They came up against armed thugs who shot first and asked question later, and employers who would fire workers and blacklist them from future employment. Nobody with any sense would have given our founders a snowballs chance in hell to form a Brotherhood that would last twelve years, let alone 112. But here we are today.

Organizing today is not as rough as it was then. Not yet anyway. But if we dont make some changes in the way we do business and in the greater society, we could find ourselves come full cycle back to the bad old days.

As I listened to what Ed had to say, something bothered me. He has said a lot of the same things before, with every bit of the same forcefulness. We have come to these conferences in the past and announced structural changes and policy changes. We have educated, debated, threatened, begged, encouraged, trained, sweet-talked and yelled about organizing before. Well, something doesnt seem to be getting through.

It kills me that we come up with the same excuses, make the same mistakes and fall into the same traps that somehow prevent organizing from happening on the scale that it should. And while I dont for a second make light of the hard work that many of you have put forth to organize new members or at least go down swinging, its discouraging to see us come together, get all fired up and then go out and hear reports that the same crap is happening in the field.

Maybe some of it is due to the fact that the fight for social justice is never over. As long as human nature is what it is less than perfect, to put it mildly there are going to be those who are strong who try to take advantage of those who are weaker. There will always be bosses who want to wring every drop of sweat of their work force for pennies. And there will always be the need for workers to stand together in order to stand up for themselves.

There will never come a time when we can say to ourselves, "Thats it. Jobs done. Weve organized everybody we need to organize, lets knock off and have a beer." Organizing is a never-ending task. And even those who approach it with a gung-ho attitude can wear down after awhile because theres always another outfit that will spring up trying to do the work cheaper and get away with screwing the workers.

So believe me, I know that organizing doesnt stop. I have done it. I have directed it. I have been in the trenches. And I know its not always pleasant.

But I think part of our problem, like Ed said, is that we dont seem to think that there are any real consequences to not organizing. Im not talking about consequences that the I.O. might put on you. Im talking about the long-term damage to the labor movement -- the weakened political clout, the loss of bargaining power, and the lack of a strong voice in our society. All of those are consequences of not living up to our ideals by organizing.

Any of that sound familiar? Thats right; its all happened. And if we dont watch out, were going to go back the early days in Chicago and elsewhere where it will take blood in the streets to get back the things we let slip away.

Brothers and sisters, the founders who wrote the IBEW constitution, much like the founding fathers in the United States and Canada, knew what they were doing. They were a rare generation that had ideals, vision and the courage to pursue them. When they made organizing the first object of the Brotherhood, and then wrote specific organizing responsibilities for all leaders into the constitution, it wasnt a mistake. They knew the central and the ongoing -- role of organizing.

And so its that simple and yet that difficult. We live up to the responsibilities we have been charged with. We carry out the duties that we swore to do. If were not in the business to organize, then were not doing our job to the fullest.

Youve heard the steps that President Hill outlined as to what we do now. Let me make it clear that the officers are 100 percent behind the game plan and committed to make it work. The system is set up to foster success. We would much rather be handing our praise for organizing than blame for not organizing. We would rather see people try and learn from mistakes than sit on their butts and make excuses. But one thing I can assure you is that theres no dodging it this time. You will be contacted about organized; you will be asked questions; you will be offered help. But you will not get away with doing nothing. Theres no place to hide.

I dont know what else to add, brothers and sisters. Theres a lot more to this conference more details, more help, more information, more brainstorming. I can tell you that this meeting is one of the most important the IBEW has held in my lifetime. Even with all the good we have accomplished over the past ten years, its not enough, and we must confront that fact.

But I believe in this Brotherhood. I believe in the people in it. And I know deep in my soul that we are going to do what it takes to make the IBEW grow and prosper no matter how long the odds against us, no matter what they throw at us. I know because it is our history and our birthright. Lets live up to it.

Thank you.