A Message from Business Manager Chris Erikson Jr.
Last week, thousands of IBEW members from across the USA and Canada came together in San Diego, California, for the 41st International Convention. You should be proud of your elected Local 3 delegates. They actively participated in various convention events and represented the rank-and-file members of Local 3 with distinction. The officers of Local 3 were involved at every turn, from pre-convention events, a Day of Service, and meetings of the IBEW Women's Committee, RENEW/NextGen, Veteran's Committee, and Electrical Workers Minority Caucus (EWMC) to electing our International Officers and debating dozens of resolutions and amendments. President Tom Cleary reported on the IBEW Disaster Fund, Inc. and read the names of the deceased Local 3 members from 9/11 and 9/11-related illnesses. Assistant Business Manager Rich Duva led the Sergeant-at-Arms committee, which comprised two dozen IBEW business managers, controlling the convention floor and ensuring smooth proceedings. Retired Business Manager and IEC Chair Chris Erikson was invited to address the Convention and also speak about the good work Electrical Workers Without Borders North America has been doing thanks to all the IBEW supporters and volunteers. Furthermore, the Sword of Light, Pipes and Drums of Local 3, officially opened the Convention once again, as they have done since 1991.
For the first time in 30 years, the IBEW Convention had a contested election for the position of International President. I had the honor of nominating President Kenneth Cooper and proudly expressed Local 3's support for him and his leadership team, as the IBEW continues to meet this moment of extraordinary demand for electricity and electrical workers. The IBEW continues to grow toward President Cooper's goal of 1 million IBEW members thanks to the efforts taking place in local unions like our own, as we continue to organize every worker doing work within the scope of the IBEW. President Cooper is focused on creating a higher standard of living and a better way of life for every member of the IBEW. Since his childhood growing up in Mansfield, Ohio, a story he has shared with the members of the IBEW often, he was poor but happy, until he watched his town get hollowed out by bad trade agreements and greedy corporations, just like so many towns across the USA and Canada. Even back then, Brother Cooper knew that an IBEW dues receipt, the yellow ticket, was his ticket to the middle class and that his calling was to help others, to improve their lives, and to stand up for working people.
So, President Cooper was elected last week, along with International Secretary-Treasurer Paul Noble, International Executive Council Chair Joe Calabro, the International Vice Presidents, and the members of the International Executive Council (IEC). With strong leadership at the top and highly engaged local unions like ours, the IBEW is poised for continued growth, more manhours, improved benefits, better representation of members from every background, race and culture, and a brighter future.
Convention photos courtesy of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW).
