The move caps a 41-year IBEW career, including the last 10 as vice president, that began when he was hired as a groundman by Memphis Light, Gas and Water and became a member of Memphis, Tenn., Local 1288 in 1985.

International President Kenneth W. Cooper praised Hall for keeping the IBEW strong in some of the most anti-union areas of the country, noting that Tenth District membership has grown steadily throughout his tenure. It includes Arkansas, Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina.

“I always was confident the Brotherhood was well served in the Tenth District because of Brent and his outstanding staff,” Cooper said. “He’s become a close friend who has always looked out for the interests of our members in a very proactive way. I thank him for his service and congratulate him on a well-earned retirement.”

Hall was born and raised in Memphis, where his father, Luther, moved as a 14-year-old from rural Mississippi. Luther Hall later worked as a city bus driver and rose to be an international vice president of the Amalgamated Transit Union.

“He told me that union politics are brutal, but just always do the right thing,” Hall said. “If you can go to your grave with integrity, you’ve had a successful life.”

The younger Hall did not envision himself as a leader at first. He completed his lineman apprenticeship and later became a line foreman for MLGW. The idea of working in an office held no interest.

“He wasn’t going to sit around and wait on things to happen. He was going to make things happen.”

_{– Tenth District International Vice President Curtis Sharpe}

“I thought I’d retire a lineman,” he said. “It was a challenge, and it was exciting work. Not many people can do it or even want to do it.

“The bonds you build with the guys you work with, they’re like family. Every time you climb into a bucket or go up a pole, you have to trust your life with them, and they have to trust their lives with you.”

He continued to work in the field after being elected to Local 1288’s executive board in 1989 and as its president in 1995.

In 2002, he was appointed a Tenth District international representative. Hall said he suspects he got the job because then-International Vice President Carl Lansden saw he was a leader in a movement in the late 1990s that successfully persuaded the Memphis City Council to vote against a proposed sale of MLGW to a private company.

The move to the district staff ended his working in the field, but he wasn’t stuck behind a desk, either. He was assigned to service nine Tennessee locals across nearly every branch of the IBEW.

“I became well-rounded,” he said. “I think that helped me when I became vice president. I understood everyone’s type of work.”

Hall remained a service rep until he was appointed international vice president in 2015. The things he’s most proud of during his tenure include:

• 25% growth in membership in the Tenth District since 2016.
• The chartering of Chattanooga, Tenn., Local 911, which represents nuclear security officers employed by the Tennessee Valley Authority, a longtime IBEW partner.
• The introduction of the IBEW’s Code of Excellence at the TVA. The program ensures the highest standard of safety, professionalism and quality in the electrical industry while strengthening ties between labor and management. The move has drastically cut the number of grievances pending by the IBEW against the TVA, where management often talks about how it positively changed the work culture there, Hall said.
• The ongoing construction of a SELCAT outdoor training facility near Nashville. It is the first facility of its kind in the Tenth District for SELCAT, an IBEW outside training partner, and Hall will remain on its board in retirement.
• Signing on three contractors in the last six months as IBEW signatories in the Carolinas, which traditionally have the lowest union density in the U.S.

“I’m very proud of our locals and business managers there,” Hall said. “They are scrappers. They’ve come from nothing, and they’re moving up.”

He was replaced by Tenth District International Representative Curtis Sharpe, a former Chattanooga Local 721 business manager. Sharpe said his predecessor was always willing to try new things to add new members in the district.

“He’s a doer,” Sharpe said of Hall. “He’s hands-on, and he gets out there. He wasn’t going to sit around and wait on things to happen. He was going to make things happen.

“I’ve learned a lot watching him and his proactive way of doing business,” Sharpe added. “Seeing that and understanding that sometimes we need a push. He did that in a very effective way.”

Hall said he wasn’t comfortable seeking reelection at the upcoming International Convention in September knowing he was unlikely to finish the term. He also wants to spend more time with family, including his 90-year-old mother, who recently entered an assisted-​living facility.

Thus, the decision to retire now.

Hall and his wife, Teresa, have two children and three grandchildren. Son Collin is a journeyman wireman and former Nashville Local 316 business manager.

He is an avid boater and plans to spend more time on the lakes near the family home in Lebanon, Tenn. He also said Teresa has “a laundry list of places to visit that are not the site of IBEW conferences.”

Hall said he is especially thankful to his wife, a registered nurse who made many sacrifices throughout his career. He also retires with fond memories of his father, who died in 2014.

“I think he would be proud,” Hall said. “I’m positive I would not have gotten involved in the union if I had not been around him and saw the changes it made in people’s lives. My dad served his membership and worked hard.”

The officers and staff thank Brother Hall for his many years of service and wish him and his loved ones a happy retirement.