The International Union of Electrical Workers (IUE) was a North American

labor union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

representing workers in the electrical manufacturing industry. While consistently using the acronym IUE, it took on several full names during its history, originally the International Union of Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers and after 1987, the International Union of Electronic, Electrical, Technical, Salaried, Machine and Furniture Workers.

Founding

The IUE grew out of a dispute in the

United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America The United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE), is an independent democratic rank-and-file labor union representing workers in both the private and public sectors across the United States. UE was one of the first unions to be c ...

(UE). The UE had been founded in 1936 and was given the first

Congress of Industrial Organizations The Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) was a federation of unions that organized workers in industrial unions in the United States and Canada from 1935 to 1955. Originally created in 1935 as a committee within the American Federation of ...

(CIO) charter in 1938. As in many of the new CIO unions organized in the 1930s, the membership and leaders of UE included a variety of radicals, including socialists and communists, as well as New Deal liberals and Catholics. Concerned about the rise of fascism, these diverse forces put aside differences to form a "Popular Front." The UE's first President was James Carey, a follower of Catholic Social teaching, and Secretary-Treasurer Julius Emspak was allied with the Communist Party. In 1941, however, the Communist faction moved to take total control and voted Carey out as President. Opposition emerged with Socialist and New Deal elements forming "UE Members for Democratic Action", modeled on the liberal, anti-Communist "

Americans for Democratic Action Americans for Democratic Action (ADA) is a liberal American political organization advocating progressive policies. ADA views itself as supporting social and economic justice through lobbying, grassroots organizing, research, and supporting prog ...

." The Catholic element worked with the

Association of Catholic Trade Unionists The Association of Catholic Trade Unionists was a labor organization associated with the Catholic Worker newspaper founded in February 1937. The organization encouraged Pope Pius XI's March 1937 anti-communist encyclical ''Divini Redemptoris'' a ...

. Between 1946 and 1949, the so-called "right wing" (as the anti-Communist faction was referred to) led an effort to win back leadership of the UE. While the anti-Communists built support, with the expulsion of the UE from the CIO in 1949, a new tactic was used of forming a new union – the IUE – with Carey as its leader. With the support of the CIO, over 300,000 former UE members joined the IUE in its first three years. While academics debate whether to call it

union raid A union raid is when a challenger or outsider union tries to take over the membership base of an existing incumbent union, typically through a union raid election in the United States and Canada. Union raids have been criticized by the labor move ...

s, the IUE relied on

NLRB The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is an independent agency of the federal government of the United States with responsibilities for enforcing U.S. labor law in relation to collective bargaining and unfair labor practices. Under the Natio ...

elections to determine which union had the right to represent workers. By the mid-1950s, the IUE had easily overtaken the UE as the dominate union in electrical manufacturing.

''Boulwarism''

As the major union at the

General Electric Co A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED O ...

., IUE confronted "

Boulwarism Boulwarism is the tactic of making a "take-it-or-leave-it" offer in a negotiation, with no further concessions or discussion. It was named after General Electric's former vice president Lemuel Boulware, who promoted the strategy. One example of B ...

." Lemuel Boulware was GE’s vice president for labor relations from 1947 to 1960. Under Boulware, GE would present the company’s contract offer to the union and no revisions would be made. The point was to make

collective bargaining Collective bargaining is a process of negotiation between employers and a group of employees aimed at agreements to regulate working salaries, working conditions, benefits, and other aspects of workers' compensation and rights for workers. The i ...

meaningless and lessen the value of the union in the eyes of its members. In 1964, the National Labor Relations Board declared such tactics to be

unfair labor practice An unfair labor practice (ULP) in United States labor law refers to certain actions taken by employers or unions that violate the National Labor Relations Act of 1935 (49 Stat. 449) (also known as the NLRA and the Wagner Act after NY Senator R ...

Later Activities

The IUE was one of the leading forces in the civil rights movement. IUE President James Carey chaired the AFL-CIO Civil Rights Committee and the IUE played a leading role in the 1963

March on Washington The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, also known as simply the March on Washington or The Great March on Washington, was held in Washington, D.C., on August 28, 1963. The purpose of the march was to advocate for the civil and economic righ ...

. In October 1969, IUE and UE called a joint strike against GE after negotiations failed to result in a new contract. The strike, which involved 164,000 workers across the country over 102 days, ended in a major victory for workers. In 1972, IUE filed a discrimination lawsuit against Westinghouse Electric, claiming that Westinghouse's wage structure resulted in less pay for women than men earned for comparable jobs. Women at Westinghouse earned only 80 percent of that of men doing similar work. IUE's victory in the suit helped establish the legal basis for

pay equity Equal pay for equal work is the concept of labour rights that individuals in the same workplace be given equal pay. It is most commonly used in the context of sexual discrimination, in relation to the gender pay gap. Equal pay relates to the full ...

. In 1987, the

United Furniture Workers of America The United Furniture Workers of America (UFWA) was a 20th-century American labor union, founded as a breakaway from the Upholsterers International Union of North America by a group of labor activists, who included Emil Costello (a Wisconsin state ...

, another CIO union, merged with the IUE. On October 1, 2000 the IUE merged with the

Communications Workers of America The Communications Workers of America (CWA) is the largest communications and media labor union in the United States, representing about 700,000 members in both the private and public sectors (also in Canada and Puerto Rico). The union has 27 loc ...

(CWA) and now forms the Industrial Division of CWA. IUE-CWA now represents over 45,000 manufacturing and industrial workers in a wide range of industries including automotive, aerospace, furniture, and appliances.

Presidents

:1950:

James B. Carey James Barron Carey (August 12, 1911 – September 11, 1973) was a 20th-century American labor union leader; secretary-treasurer of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) (1938–55); vice-president of AFL–CIO (from 1955); served as pre ...

:1965: Paul Jennings :1976: David J. Fitzmaurice :1982: William H. Bywater :1996: Ed Fire

References

External links

* {{Strategic Organizing Center Congress of Industrial Organizations Defunct trade unions in Canada History of labor relations in the United States Defunct trade unions in the United States Defunct transnational trade unions United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America Communications Workers of America