Local 5 of the National (later International) Brotherhood of Electrical Workers was organized at a meeting at Knights of Labor Hall, 66 Third Avenue, Pittsburgh, on February 17, 1897. Special Organizer S. R. Thomas of the American Federation of Labor and General Organizer Gallagher of the Painters Union were instrumental in the founding of the local. In the first election for regular officers, T. K. Bevington was chosen President; Charles Kirk, Vice-President; Horace McGregor, Recording Secretary; and Y.U. Bevington, Financial Secretary. As Business Manager, M. P. Gordan was likely the most important leader in the local from the 1900's through the 1930's.
Local 5 was part of District 7, a territory encompassing electrical worker locals in parts of Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia. Soon after its organization, the Local affiliated with the Union Labor League and, subsequently, with the AF of L Iron City Central Trades Council. Other IBEW locals in Pittsburgh at that time were Local 14 and Local 319. In 1908, Local 5 had its offices at 416 Wood Street. In 1910, the offices shifted to the Union Labor Temple on the corner of Washington Street and Webster Avenue in the Hill District. Headquarters in the late 1920's and 1930's were the McGeagh Building, 607 Bigelow Boulevard and, at least from 1940, the Law and Finance Building, 429 Fourth Avenue.
Printed Working Rules governed relations between the Local and the Pittsburgh electrical contractors. The Rules prescribed a Grievance Committee consisting of three representatives of the Local and three representatives of the contractors, with disputes to be settled by majority decision and, in case of deadlock, by an impartial arbitrator. Hours of work, supplementary payment for overtime and holidays, regulation of apprenticeships, requirements regarding the tools to be furnished by the worker and the responsibility of the employer for carfare to and from worksites (if remote from the center of the city) were other provisions.
The collection consists of the microfilmed edition of four bound volumes of IBEW Local 5 records, with some ephemeral material filmed at the end of the volume in which such material was found. Volume 1 (1897-1899) consists of minutes of regular membership meetings of the Local. Volumes 2-4, covering 1922-1950, contain minutes of the Advisory Board, also known as the Executive Board. While these latter are frequently brief and not always informative, there are exceptions. Between 1928-1930, the Advisory Board minutes note the number of workers and number of permits assigned for various large projects. These reflect active construction on important local landmarks, e.g. the Clark, Grant and Koppers Buildings, Horne's, Kaufmann's, and the University of Pittsburgh's Cathedral of Learning. Among the ephemera filmed at the end of Volume 4 are a 1925 edition of the Working Rules of the Local and a four-page "National Program for Electrical Workers' Civic Association" which embodies a far-reaching set of proposals for government regulation and social insurance in response to the crisis conditions of the Depression. This printed pamphlet appears under the signature of M. P. Gordan, Local 5's long-time Business Manager.
No restrictions.
Records lent for filming by the IBEW Local 5 in May 1997. Rights to the microfilm edition held by the Archives Service Center.
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 5, Pittsburgh, Pa. Records, 1897-1950, AIS.1997.17, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 5, Pittsburgh, Pa. Records, 1897-1950, AIS.1997.17, Archives Service Center, University of Pittsburgh
Records of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 5 (Pittsburgh, Pa.), 1897-1950, UE/Labor Micro 97:17, Archives Service Center, University of Pittsburgh
ASC staff in 1997. Finding aid created by David Rosenberg in 2004.
Revision for the encoded version of the finding aid provided by Amy Shaffer in July 2004. Information about the collection title and the controlled access terms was extracted from the MARC record in the University of Pittsburgh catalog Voyager ID number: 4376570
Permission for publication is given on behalf of the University of Pittsburgh as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.
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