Organizing is the absolute primary goal of the IBEW
IBEW plays a critical role in labour’s ongoing battles for the rights of working people. Members who join a union have a voice at the table, and they are also able to seek justice on the job. That’s because there is strength in numbers. Labour unions fight for issues important to working people—to make workplaces safe, protect earnings for retirement, gain quality health care, hold corporations accountable to their employees and secure economic justice. Union members earn higher wages and have better overall benefits.
Workers form unions so they can have a unified voice to improve their lives, the lives of their families and the communities in which they live.
However, a union is more than just a collective bargaining agreement, improved wages and benefits that come with a union contract, and union leadership. The union is the people themselves, joining together in a triumph of hope over fear, and standing up together for justice.
Why Unions are Needed
Unions have led the fight for the 40-hour work week, eight-hour day, minimum wage, occupational safety and health laws, fair standards act, workers compensation, unemployment insurance, and the banning of child labour.