History of IBEW + Local 230
The Early History of Local 230
On February 13, 1902 a seed was planted in Victoria by the drafting of our local’s charter.
The line crew from the BC Electric Company was tired of their poor wages and working conditions.
The objects contained in the Constitution of the I.B.E.W. are:
- To organize all workers in the entire electrical industry in the United States and Canada, including all those in public utilities and electrical manufacturing, into local unions
- To promote reasonable methods of work
- To cultivate feelings of friendship among those of our industry
- To settle all disputes between employers and employees by arbitration (if possible)
- To assist each other in sickness or distress
- To secure employment
- To reduce the hours of daily labour
- To secure adequate pay for our work
- To seek a higher and higher standard of living
- To seek security for the individual
- And by legal and proper means, to elevate the moral, intellectual and social conditions of our members, their families and dependents, in the interest of a higher standard of citizenship.
The line crew decided it was time for the large power company to share some of its wealth with their workers.
Not long after the workers who operated the electric street cars around the city also organized into the local.
Then came the telephone workers, and in the late twenties through the tireless efforts of our first Business Manager, Brother Bill Reid organized the inside wire section.
The seed which was planted so long ago, and nourished with sound stewardship, has grown into a mighty maple, spanning all of Vancouver Island.
“Local 230’s Jurisdiction covers, Utility, Inside Wire, Marine, Communications, Cable Television, Railroad and Electrical Manufacturing work as defined in Article XXVI, Sections 4,5,6,7, and 8 of the IBEW Constitution when performed on Vancouver Island and all of the offshore islands lying west of the main northbound navigational channel between Vancouver Island and the mainland, including Quadra Island but excluding Lasqueti and Texada Islands, save and except employees of the British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority.”
The first IBEW Journal was published on January 15, 1893 as “The Electrical Worker” and has continued to inform our membership since.
Our contributions have historically been color full and candid, yet concerned with the friction of the day.
One of our earliest working agreements was with the Vancouver Island Power Company at the Jordan River Dam Site.
Raj Takhar
President of IBEW Local 230