Spies Infiltrate Union Meeting!
No this isn't the 1920's, this is in 2026!
The state always sides with the capitalist ruling elite!
The only time they failed to side with capital is when workers forced the state to come up with a grand compromise called the NEW DEAL because workers were ready for a revolution and rethinking of the United States Economic System!
Well guess what?
They're at it again!
Let's Talk About It! ✊🏽
Why swear an Oath? At the General Membership meeting last Friday I took to the mic to explain.
An oath comes from a time before law. A time when a man was only as good as his word and betraying trust ended in a 6 foot pine box. Oath's are serious business.
Let's Talk About It ! ✊🏽
In recent years political discourse has shifted dramatically towards wealth redistribution. Tax the Wealthy! Cut Military Spending! Pass Universal Healthcare! One would think these ideas are new!
Universal Healthcare as a human right is Not a NEW Concept in the U.S. However, if you are like me, then you were unaware that this conversation is older than your kids. If you were born in the 2000's you probably think this conversation is recently started.
This conversation was happening in the 90's too! The wealthy have stolen 80 trillion from workers since 1974! It's long past time we take it back through progressive taxation! It's our money!
Let's Talk About It ! ✊🏽
A very successful contract negotiation comes to completion as the members in attendance in Roanoke voted to pass the proposal unanimously!
I do not know what the Negotiating team did differently this time around, but whatever it was make sure you do it again for the Metro Negotiation coming up in January! 😉
Let's talk about it! ✊🏽
Workers are in a state of suspended animation. Stuck in place since their peak in 1950. The victories of the 1930's approaching a century ago a distant memory. What remains is capital servitude en mass. Today we take a look back at worker history from the beginning. We examine what happened and where we are. The question is, where do we go from here?
As the Working Class it must be a top priority that we make the money we deserve for the work we do to make rich people rich.
Rich people love to claim its their hard work that made them rich. Yawn. Whatever.
As working people we know, if we don't work rich people do NOT become rich. So we have to demand we are paid a fair wage. That includes getting paid for the traffic we sit in, the rest we do not get, the increased stress of driving in rush hour traffic.
It has been 75 years since we have forced any real change to working conditions for workers in the U.S.
In this time the rich have gotten richer than at anytime in history. Time for some get back!
Ef you...pay me!
Who knows what soul your example touches beyond your immediate circle. There are always folks watching and you can never really know how many you are impacting. Sister Robbie Sparks' life was like that. She impacted too many for her to appreciate how many were impacted by her example. Tonight I wanted to tell you guys about Mama Sparks.
R.I.P. Mama Sparks, thank you for everything you did for us! The IBEW will resonate with the example of your life forever!
A Contractor's Local? Naw, we have a Contractor's Membership! Apathy is rampant. Shop rockets run your days on massive data center projects that treat you like you are less than. You complain and feel like those complaints fall on deaf ears. Sound familiar?
Welcome to a Contractor's Membership. It's a membership that does not show up, does not demand representation rather they beg for promotions, a gas card, and a truck.
What is the cure? Education! Start a CREW chapter. Become educated, educate your members, organize, and make your Membership a union strong Membership!
Let's talk about it! ✊🏽
At the peak of union power in the 50's , Union Density sat at 33%. This means that 1/3 of every single job in the United States was a Union job! Today Union Density sits at 10%. That is no accident! The capitalists never stopped fighting against Unions! They never stopped corrupting government. They never stopped infiltrating unions with their operatives. They never stopped attempting to dismantle worker rights won through the sacrifice of blood, sweat, tears, and our siblings lives. So what if Union Density was brought back to 33%?
Let's talk about it.
Tomorrow is the general membership meeting for IBEW 24. IBEW 24 members have an opportunity to support a community event that has brought the city of Baltimore and the building trades together for 3 years straight. It has grown every year in size and influence. I am talking about the EWMC 24 3 on 3 Basketball tournament! So make sure you attend the meeting and vote to support this amazing event.
Let's Talk About It!
Good evening. Another day in Trump's America and another I.C.E. murder of a worker. It is only a matter of time before ICE murders an IBEW member. We are a Union with a very diverse membership. Right now in America that diverse membership is under threat daily wherever ICE is operating. As a Union we proclaim to stand for Human Justice, Human Security, Human Rights, and against OPPRESSION of ANY kind!
Delegates to the IBEW convention Nationwide must work to pass the Resolution to Mobilize in Defense of Immigrants! Let's Talk About It!
At last Friday's gm meeting I spoke under the good of the union. I wanted to bring a story to the rank and file about IBEW Local 520 and their approach to the last negotiations they went through. I learned of their story through an article in Labor Notes. I want to share the report I gave at the meeting with you all. I hope it encourages you to attend the next general membership meeting.
Another day in the great ol U,S of A. Because there is just always such great and uplifting news that is produced daily, it should come as no surprise that I.C.E. agents murdered a worker on his way to work Tuesday morning in Houston ,Texas. In case you couldn't tell, I was being sarcastic. Here we are in the nation that touts freedom and justice as its founding principles allowing extrajudicial warrantless murder on the streets. We as a working class and as unionists must recognize the danger that is clear and present and apparent to all immigrant communities. But it goes deeper than that. These warrantless manhunters threaten us all. We work along Hispanic people born and raised here who will also get caught up in this trap of violence perpetuated on us by masked goons. They will not stop at brown and black people. RIP Lorenzo Salgado Araujo!
Little is known about the negotiations process by average rank and file members of the IBEW. They traditionally have been kept in the dark and presented with a contract offer the month that the contract expires. They will receive a sales pitch about the contract and how amazing it is. They will be told they should vote to approve the contract. Then for 3 years you hear nothing but gripes. That's how things typically go. However, at IBEW local 520 they took a different approach at their most recent negotiations. I want to share with you an article from labor notes that highlights just what they did. I hope locals across the country learn from their example and shake things up the next time your local negotiates! Let's dive in!
There is a battle raging for the soul of the Democratic Party. On one side you have the establishment. On the other you have the unbought and unbossed candidates fighting for working families.
In 2016 the establishment crushed Bernie Sanders in the primary and lost to Trump.
Now DSA candidates like Zoran Mamdani are showing a politics that centers workers can not only win but can govern.
Here I will read from the Awesome Qasim Rashid as he breaks down this fight and shows why in VA-1 we must elect Salaam Bhatti for Congress ! Unions should get behind the left as they have traditionally done in the past when we changed the lives of working people and built a working class to be proud of!
Conversations around the contract negotiations are happening. What should we demand? What can we expect? Are we too ambitious? Will we ask too little?
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Important stuff! It's apropos then to know our current contract. I was asked a question today. Let's talk about it.
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A 32 hour work week. Is it a pie in the sky idea? These days?! A pitch came across my radar today and its one every IBEW members nationwide should hear about. Let's talk about it!
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Did you know that Isreal's military attacked the U.S.S. Liberty, an intelligence ship, in 1967. With the addition of sec. 224 to the NDAA it is time for a Divorce. This relationship is bad for the American People.
80 trillion dollars!
That's how much was stolen from working families since 1975! 80 trillion dollars! Taken from your grandparents! Taken from your parents! Taken from you! Taken from your children! Stolen! Are you aware of this study?
Tax Billionaires Out of Existence!