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A Better Life
"We can take pride in how far we have come, but there is no time to rest on our laurels."
-- President Gordon Freeman, 1966
As the United States and Canada grew and prospered in the postwar years, so did the IBEW. While already dominating the construction market, the IBEW also carried out a massive effort to organize workers in the fast-growing utility, manufacturing and telephone industries. Postwar struggles with anti-labor legislation made clear the need for greater involvement in the political process. Newfound economic security allowed the Brotherhood to create a larger administrative structure to serve the needs of its members. The new headquarters built in 1971 was by 1972 home to a union one million strong. |