The Electrical Workers Minority Caucus (EWMC) held its 35th National Leadership Conference on January 16th-19th in St. Louis, Missouri, the birthplace of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW). This year’s theme was “Evolving to Embrace Tomorrow,” and the conference raised the voices of minority and young union members within the growing and diversifying ranks of the IBEW.
Local 3 sent a delegation of 65 members including Business Manager and International Executive Council (IEC) Chairman Chris Erikson, President Tom Cleary, Vice President Louis Alvarez, who also serves on the EWMC Executive Committee, and the Local 3 NYC chapter of the EWMC, comprised of the Amber Light Society, Asian American Cultural Society, Latimer Progressive Association, and Santiago Iglesias Educational Society. Wendell Yee, president of the Local 3 NYC chapter of the EWMC, participated in a panel discussion about the Young Workers Caucus, and Amber Light Society President Shauna Irving was elected vice president of EWMC-RENEW at the conference.
The conference kicked off with the annual EWMC Day of Service on the morning of January 16th, where IBEW members volunteered to do community projects such as youth mentorship, reading to elementary classrooms, and feeding the homeless. Over the next few days, some of the most pressing topics presented and discussed in resolutions and workshops were mental health, immigrants’ rights, and the EWMC’s strategic direction moving forward.
