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It’s 1960 and once again the population of Seattle is on the rise to 557,087.
The city is preparing for the Century 21 Exposition (or the World’s Fair) of 1962.
Early in the decade, Local 46 goes on record supporting the ‘Forand Bill’ which did not pass in Congress, but would have given medical care for the elderly.
Later in 1965 Medicare was passed in Congress creating medical care for our seniors.
It’s 1960 and once again the population of Seattle is on the rise to 557,087.
The city is preparing for the Century 21 Exposition (or the World’s Fair) of 1962.
Early in the decade, Local 46 goes on record supporting the ‘Forand Bill’ which did not pass in Congress, but would have given medical care for the elderly.
Later in 1965 Medicare was passed in Congress creating medical care for our seniors.
The Fair saw 10 million people pass through its gates and was a huge success. Visitors enjoyed riding the Monorail, visiting the Science Center, and taking the elevator up the Space Needle to its viewing platform and restaurant, all built with the help of Local 46 wiremen.
The Fair provided a lot of work for Local 46 members; many of our current retirees’ worked on this, and today our members still maintain the facilities at the Seattle Center.
In May of that year, Local 46 members were not happy with the International and their agreements covering Dams and Heavy industry. It is clear that the membership felt that the Local Union contract should always take precedent. It was motioned and carried “that a letter of censure is sent to International President Gordon Freeman from the Washington State Electrical Workers Association in regard to these agreements”!
March 8, 1961, (listed under the “no surprise” column), it was reported from Olympia that legislators were not following through on their commitments to workers, and here we thought it only happened to our generation! There was a comment at one meeting in 1961 “that members did not want to work the rope jobs”.
The Pacific Coast Pension Plan covering the Marine members in Washington, Oregon and California, and later other units in Local 46, went into effect in 1961 with a $0.10 contribution. In 1962, the first two members to retire from the yards under the plan were from Local 46.
May 1962, in shades of what we see today, the Local 46 scribe wrote, as part of his piece for the International Journal, the following, “powerful forces and $$$ are still trying to convince the multitudes that our prosperity must trickle down from the top and that good wages and shorter hours for workers has been a big mistake,” going on he says, “some still believe this rot”. The Local 46 elected delegates to the 1962 International Convention in Montreal, Quebec were as follows:
Alex M. Campbell, Eugene V. Nelson, William L. English, Jr, Gordon W Puckett, Don. Geo. McPherson, Myron J. Stevens, Howard Meyers, Billy Wilbur
Our membership had grown a little in the four years since the last convention to 2,502.
Throughout the 60’s the Local sponsored Salmon Derbies. Pictured above is a great photo of the winners of the 1963 Salmon Derby and the winner was not one of the men, but the wife of a member who caught a 20# salmon, twice the size of the second place winner!
On August 14, 1963, a Brother from Local 77 came to the General Meeting to encourage our members to vote to continue the trolley bus system.
There was a movement afoot to change from electric trolley buses to diesel. The trolleys, thankfully, are still rolling today, but our scribe in the International Journal makes an astute observation, “In this great electrified city, we should be expanding our system of rapid transit instead of having to retrench”.
That wise Brother may not be with us today, and it has taken some time to accept rapid transit, but we are sure he would be proud of the work that Local 46 Wiremen, and maybe other classifications, have done, and continue to do on our transportation systems, like the bus tunnel, the Sound Transit system and the Highway 99 tunnel.
On December 11, 1963, a moment of silence was observed in respect to the late President John F. Kennedy.
During the 60’s there were appeals for the Local 46 blood bank at almost every meeting. There was a report on how many units were available and that more could be used. There also seemed to be an uptick in the number of charges filed on members for violations of either one of the Agreements, the Constitution, or By-Laws.
At the March 11, 1964 meeting, Local 46 received a directive from the International Vice President that the Bremerton Construction Unit was awarded to Local 46.
The Counties of Kitsap and Jefferson would be added to the Local 46 jurisdiction. The Local already had jurisdiction in the Port Angeles area, which is part of Clallam County.
The Local opened up an office in the Bremerton area and a Business Representative was appointed to the area.
Today that office is now located in Silverdale. One hundred and thirty wiremen and eight apprentices came into Local 46.
On April 9, 1964 Local 46 celebrated its 50th anniversary at the Olympic Hotel in Seattle. Five hundred members and their guests danced the night away in celebration of fifty years of progress, with of course many more years to come.
The Local also sponsored youth baseball teams. Some teams were quite successful, and on occasion would appear at the meetings with their trophies along with their coaches.
The 28th IBEW International Convention in 1966 was held in St Louis, Missouri. Our membership had once again picked up this time to 2,713.
Our delegates were: Charles Adams, Gordon W. Puckett, William L. English, Myron J. Stevens, Harry K. Hamasaki, Leonard Thomas, Fred Hanson, Earl L. Patton, Harry David Myers
In November of 1966, the Marine Unit struck and was on strike for almost six months. Both Todd Shipyard and Lockheed continued to operate because the other trades continued to work.
Organizing continued in the manufacturing and appliance service sector, with the Local winning elections quite regularly.
At the end of 1967, the wiremen voted to stop bringing in any more Construction Stockmen for three years.
The Interstate 5 freeway through Seattle opened and brought fifteen years of planning and work to fruition.
By early 1968, both the National Electrical Benefit Fund (NEBF) and the Pacific Coast Pension Plan were doing quite well and increased the benefit rate. NEBF went from $2 to $3 per month per years worked (today the benefit is $32 per month) and the Pacific Coast plan had a flat rate of $135.
At the September 11, 1968 meeting, there was a recommendation that we support the United Farm Workers’ grape boycott. An article in the International Journal highlighted the Port of Seattle, which included a piece on the SeaTac airport and its history. It also went into detail about the waterfront and the role it played in the regional economy. The waterfront and the airport have provided a lot of work over the years for Local 46 construction members. In 1968, we had 12 electricians directly employed by the Port of Seattle; today we have over 100 members working between the Sea Port and the Airport.
In the March 1969 issue of the International Journal there is a five page spread about the back log of Marine work in Seattle and a history of the two major shipyards: Todd Shipyard Corporation, Seattle Division and the Lockheed Shipbuilding and Construction Company.
The Marine industry had changed. Construction of Navy ships were much more sophisticated with lots of different electrical systems and a lot of electronic equipment, thus the need for hundreds of Local 46 Marine members.
Marine members were very busy throughout the 60’s with some big jobs and many new electricians and apprentices coming into the yards again. It was both Merchant Marine and Navy work.
The Navy work was secured because of a differential in the bids between the east, south and west coast shipyards. Most large maritime equipment, such as engines and the like, were manufactured in the east, so transporting the equipment west was not cheap, thus the need for the differential. This differential stayed in effect until the 80’s when an administration unfriendly to organized labor discontinued the practice, helping the eventual demise of new Navy construction on the west coast, and the closing of many yards.
On October 1, 1969, the jurisdiction of the Broadcast members from KING, KOMO, and KIRO, was transferred from Local 77 to Local 46. The total number of members being transferred was 115. Since that time the Broadcast unit has shrunk because of technology and other issues, but a few years ago KCTS (channel 9) came into Local 46. So we represent Broadcast members at all the major stations in Seattle.
Toward the end of the decade the Local formed a committee to investigate the salaries of the Local 46 officers and staff. Though no direct mention is made, it does seem that some members felt that the officers and staff were overpaid. A month later the committee made its report. “The officers and staff of Local 46 appear to be about 5% lower paid than other Locals on the west coast.” A motion is quickly made, seconded and carried that “we drop the whole question of wages for staff and officers and we thank the committee for its work”.
In 1969, the tallest building built that decade was the Seattle-First National Bank Building at 1001 4th Avenue (now the Safeco Plaza Bldg ). It topped out at 630’ just 25’ taller than the Space Needle. Some nicknamed the building the “box the Space Needle came in,” and it became the tallest building since the Smith Tower was built in 1914. Local 46 members worked on all three.
As the new decade was approaching, Local 46 was beginning to feel the heat from the Federal Government because Local 46 and the other Unions discriminated against our African-American Brothers and Sisters. Read On!
The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) is committed to improving the lives of electrical workers and their families.
Built on the principles of family, fairness, justice and equality, the IBEW reflects the fact that Union Members enjoy Superior Wages and Benefts for their abilities.
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