The delegates to the 40th International Convention approved an increase to the general fund Tuesday, giving leaders the resources they requested to accelerate organizing and place the IBEW on solid footing for the years ahead.
Starting in January of 2023, per capita will increase by $2 per month, an additional $1.00 per month starting July 1, 2024, and a final increase of $1.00 one year after that.
The modest increase will allow the IBEW to capitalize on unprecedented openness to the power of unions both among workers and political leaders in Washington and Ottawa.
“That is less than a cup of coffee at all of those Starbucks that are organizing,” said International Secretary-Treasurer Kenny Cooper as he presented the IST report on the finances of the union before the vote on the amendment. “We owe it to the next generation to leave the IBEW better than we have it.”
Before the convention, the Finance Committee came together to consider the future financial needs of the IBEW. The North American workforce has never been more receptive to coming together and forming and joining unions, but at the same time, too few have personal experience working in or with unions.
At the same time, electrification and decarbonizing the economy will permanently and radically increase the demand for electrical workers.
But while there are opportunities in the future, enormous opportunities that will require investment in organizers and campaigns, today, there are challenges that need to be addressed.
Many of them can be traced to the pandemic which, according to Cooper’s presentation, marked a slowing and then a reversal of organizing successes since the last convention, chiefly in telecom, utility and among other professional and industrial members.
While “A” membership grew by about 33,000 members with another 10,000 “BA” members switching to “A” membership to take advantage of the Pension Benefit Fund, “BA” membership fell by about 20,000 members, excluding the 10,000 who converted.
In addition, Cooper said, the IBEW expects to lose nearly 60,000 “A” members in the next four years to various forms of retirement.
Projecting out, the Finance committee set a conservative target of 0.5% growth because economic uncertainty may well be the new normal. The pandemic taught us that, if nothing else, Cooper said. With no change to the per capita, projected operating losses quickly rose into the millions each year.
Cooper urged passage of the per capita increase, saying anything else would be a betrayal of future generations of IBEW members and an historic failure to seize the opportunities at hand.
“How do we move forward and plan to do all things we have talked about so far?” Cooper asked. “No one thinks we should stay at the status quo.”
Law Committee Chairman Don Finn, Business Manager of Chicago Local 134 and Secretary Lou Antonellis, Business Manager of Boston Local 103, introduced the amendment, which was approved by the convention.