Last month, IBEW delegates from across North America gathered in Atlanta for our annual Membership Development Conference. I often say that, outside of the International Convention, Membership Development is the most important meeting our union holds.

That’s because organizing is the lifeblood of any union. It’s about far more than dues. It’s about power to secure a better future for working people.

And today, the IBEW has more of that power than ever before.

Our union has grown consistently over the last decade, but in the past few years, we’ve been shattering records and making history.

As we reported in The Electrical Worker last year, the IBEW welcomed more than 24,000 new members in 2025.

Well, as I announced in Atlanta, we’re not just matching those numbers. We’re blowing past them.

This year, we’ve already organized approximately 30,000 new IBEW members. You’d have to go back to 1969 — the height of the labor movement — to find growth like that.

And there’s no sign of us slowing down.

Across North America, workers are looking for what the IBEW offers: good wages, strong benefits, a voice on the job and the dignity that comes with a union card. Our duty is to reach them, organize them and welcome them into the Brotherhood.

And this matters to every IBEW brother and sister, because every new member, employer and jump in market share means more power to secure and improve on our wages and benefits.

There is no way we could have negotiated an increase in NEBF benefits without a bigger membership behind us.

But as impressive as those numbers are, this is no time to take our foot off the gas on organizing.

The economy is witnessing a historic demand for skilled electrical workers.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects 81,000 electrician openings per year. That’s a growth rate of 9% annually between 2024 and 2034, much faster than the national average at a time of sluggish overall growth.

Much of that growth is driven by the explosion in data center construction, but every sector of our industries is feeling the demand, from commercial and industrial construction to manufacturing, transmission and distribution.

Whoever can recruit, train and retain the skilled workers needed to build and maintain these projects will lead the energy industry for decades. And that’s where the IBEW excels.

That’s why industry leaders — from Microsoft to Google to countless others — are looking to the IBEW.

But it’s on our local leadership to make it happen. Because organizing is a bottom-up effort, done worker by worker. That’s why I need every IBEW member to make organizing their priority. It’s going to take everyone working together to meet the demands of this moment.

This boom isn’t slowing down, and neither can the IBEW. If we’re not doing the work, someone else is. So let’s continue to shatter even more records and ensure that every electrical worker is an IBEW worker.

Thank you for all you do, and keep up the great work!