International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers

These brothers are held together with wire, steel girders, fiber optic cable, and conveyor belts. The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) is about a 725,000-member labor union for workers in such industries as utilities, construction, telecommunications, and manufacturing in the US and Canada. The union lobbies government on behalf of its members, provides training and scholarships, maintains an electronic job board, and helps members secure higher wages, better health care, and safer working conditions. The union was formally organized in 1891 at a convention in St. Louis run by the original American Federation of Labor, a predecessor to the AFL-CIO, with which the union is affiliated.