Honoring Martin Luther King Jr.
A Message from IBEW Local 103
IBEW Local 103 wishes the residents of the Boston area a happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day! While King was not a Boston native, the city played an essential role in shaping this national icon. Dr. King’s message of brotherhood, love, and non-violence are just as relevant today as they were in the 1950s and 1960s. His vision of hope is a potent antidote to the despair triggered by the challenges of the global pandemic and political strife. We can unlock our collective power for positive change by recognizing our linked fates. Dr. King holds a special place in my heart. He rightly pointed out how inequality threatens American democracy. Dividing people is the antithesis of the labor ideal of solidarity. He was a passionate union advocate, eloquently explaining the role and impact of organized labor. At the Illinois AFL-CIO Convention in 1965, Dr. King noted that, “the labor movement was the principal force that transformed misery and despair into hope and progress.” He valued unions as the originators of anti-poverty programs, responsible for introducing the core elements of the modern American social safety net: Out of the [union movement’s] bold struggles, economic and social reform gave birth to unemployment insurance, old age pensions, government relief for the destitute, and, above all else, new wage levels that meant not mere survival but a tolerable life. – Martin Luther King Jr., 1965 Illinois AFL-CIO Convention Dr. King was a vocal champion of working men and women and the unions that represent them. Renowned labor leaders like A. Philip Randolph, Walter Reuther, and Bayard Rustin actively participated in the Civil Rights Movement. They convinced the labor movement to support the Civil Rights Movement. Labor leaders understood that economic justice, the raison d’être of the union movement, was a central pillar of the civil rights struggle. In 1941, A. Philip Randolph proposed a march on Washington to demand African American access to the war industries jobs. President Roosevelt responded by passing the Fair Employment Act, negating the need for the demonstration. A. Philip Randolph partnered with Dr. King to resurrect the idea of the protest as the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Unionists turned out in droves for the march. Even more critical, union members marched with Coretta Scott King to celebrate the life and cause of Dr. King following his assassination in 1968.
An assassin killed Dr. King while he was standing up for the striking sanitation workers of Memphis, an action jointly supported by AFSCME and the NAACP. In his last speech, he directed us to keep going toward the promised land even if he would not make the journey with us. Fifty-three years later, we are still on our way to the promised land. Considerable work remains. Unions are reflecting on our national history of inequality as the late AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka reminded the Missouri AFL-CIO Convention in 2014: Racism is part of our inheritance as Americans. Every city, every state and every region of this country has its own deep history with racism. So does the labor movement. – AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, 2014 Missouri AFL-CIO Convention We can use Martin Luther King Day to reflect on the work ahead. IBEW Local 103 pledges to continue to do its part to realize Dr. King’s dream. Knowing we cannot do it alone, we formed a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) advisory council to provide expert input. Working with our industry partner, the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA) of Greater Boston, we dramatically expanded our diversity efforts through the new Empower DEI Program. We hired a dedicated DEI staff member and began to offer regular trainings led by leading experts in the field. Diverse recruitment is another strategic focus of our DEI initiatives. Recent apprenticeship classes were the most diverse cohorts ever fielded by IBEW Local 103. Empower DEI creates a complete career pathway from apprenticeship to contracting business development. It also establishes an accelerated training program for experienced, licensed, existing Minority-owned Business Enterprise (MBE) or Women-owned Business Enterprise (WBE) NECA contractors, as well as for IBEW 103 electricians seeking to open their own MBE or WBE contracting business. These are just a few steps that IBEW 103 is taking to make structural reforms to promote diversity and inclusion in our union, and to stand against racism in our industry and beyond. We are only getting started as we live our economic fairness and equal opportunity values! We urge all our members to celebrate our progress while recommitting to transforming our sector. Lou Antonellis Business Manager/Financial Secretary IBEW Local 103