2016 IBEW Membership Development Conference

The IBEW hosted the 2016 Membership Development Conference over three days in November in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Membership Development Conference is the largest IBEW conference outside of the International Convention held every five years. IBEW leaders, business managers, organizers, and rank-and-file members converge yearly to strategize about growing the IBEW. Local 3 Business Manager and IBEW International Executive Council Chairman Christopher Erikson attended the conference, along with Local 3 Organizer Raymond
Kitson, and Business Representatives Christopher Erikson Jr. and Louis Sanchez.
The theme of the 2016 IBEW Membership Development Conference was “Delivering Our Message.” To the IBEW, this means focusing on membership development as central to all the work done at the local union level: recruiting new workers, signing up new businesses, and building new relationships to grow the IBEW for generations to come. Run by the Membership Development Department of the IBEW, the goal of the conference was to empower the local union leaders to do the hard work necessary to grow the IBEW and to hone our message to our customers, partners, and the public.
The agenda for the three days included speakers, panels, workshops, and the sharing of best practices of organizers from all over the IBEW. Something important to note is that the Membership Development Conference did not solely concentrate on construction; all branches of the IBEW including Professional and Industrial, Maintenance, Manufacturing, Telecomm, Utility, Government, Railroad, and Broadcasting participated fully in the three-day event.
As always, the focus of the conference was on organizing. Organizing is the lifeblood of the IBEW and the importance of organizing is spelled out in the first Object of the IBEW Constitution: to organize all workers in the entire electrical industry in the United States and Canada, including all those in public utilities and electrical manufacturing, into å_local unions. Local 3’s strength has historically come from organizing not just every worker but every aspect of the electrical industry in New York City ‰ÛÒ construction, manufacturing, supply, administration, maintenance, and so on.
A number of tools and resources were presented to the delegates who work hard in their local unions every day to grow the IBEW. The IBEW’s Education Department runs a number of programs to local unions such as COMET (Construction Organizing Membership Education Training), Code of Excellence training, and Member 2 Member which focuses on internal organizing campaigns within a local union’s own membership. These programs strengthen both a local union’s membership and makes the IBEW workforce more attractive to contractors, developers, and customers.
The Business Development Department of the IBEW focuses on the direct relationships with customers, owners, and contractors to highlight the value the IBEW organization brings into the field of electrical contracting.
The RENEW youth initiative played a role at the Membership Development Conference as well. Engaging the young members of the IBEW is critical to having an active membership as the IBEW continues to grow in to the future.
The IBEW faces a number of challenges such as reduced market share and overall union density levels, an aging workforce, and major non-union competition. But the Membership Development Conference laid out an aggressive organizing plan of targeting over 20,000 key people in the non-union construction market, combined with the tools available to all local unions and customers across the U.S. and Canada, to ensure positive growth in IBEW membership in the years to come.
International President Stephenson addressed the delegates throughout the conference. He noted in his remarks that many locals across the IBEW are currently enjoying full employment, but more importantly, he emphasized this as the best time to organize and grow our market share in a tightened labor market. He called for a renewed commitment to organizing and a heightened responsibility to our organization from every local union leader, organizer, and rank-and-file member ‰ÛÒ now is the time to do the hard work needed to grow the IBEW and to ensure a good middle-class lifestyle for the next generation of IBEW members.
Local 3 understands the importance of organizing and growing our position in the electrical construction market in our jurisdiction. Our union has embraced the tools of the IBEW such as market recovery agreements, the Code of Excellence, and Business Development, and has combined them with our renewed focus on the Residential and Tele/Data markets. We have already seen success with our RE/RW program and will continue to focus on non-union electrical contractors that continue to undermine the living standards and safety of electrical workers in New York City.