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The nucleus of our Brotherhood formed in 1890. An exposition
was held in St. Louis that year featuring "a glorious display
of electrical wonders." Wiremen and linemen from all
over the United Sates flocked to Missouri's queen city to wire the
buildings and erect the exhibits which were the
"spectaculars" of their era.
The men got together at the end of each long workday and talked about the toil and conditions for workers in the electrical industry. The story was the same everywhere. The work was hard; the hours long; the pay small. It was common for a lineman to risk his life on the high lines 12 hours a day in any kind of weather, seven days a week, for the meager sum of 15 to 20 cents an hour. Two dollars and 50 cents a day was considered excellent wages for Wiremen, and many men were forced to accept work for $8.00 a week.
There were no apprenticeship training, and safety standards were nonexistent. In some areas the death rate for linemen was one out of every two hired, and nationally the death rate for electrical workers was twice that of the national average for all other industries.
No wonder electrical workers of the Gay '90s sought some recourse for their troubles. A union was the logical answer; so this small group, meeting in St. Louis, sought help from the American Federation of Labor (AFL). An organizer named Charles Cassel was assigned to help them and chartered the group as the Electrical Wiremen and Linemen's Union, No. 5221, of the AFL.
A St. Louis lineman, Henry Miller, was elected president of that union. I.O. Archive photos show him to be a tall, handsome man with broad, powerful shoulders; keen blue eyes; and reddish-brown hair. To him and the other workers at that St. Louis exposition, it was apparent their small union was only a starting point. Isolated locals could accomplish little as bargaining agencies. Only a national organization of electrical workers with jurisdiction covering the entire industry could win better treatment from the corporate empires engaged in telephone, telegraph, electric power, electrical contracting and electrical-equipment manufacturing.
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The Lineman They sings of the men as goes down to sea; Of the heroes of cannon and swords; An’ writes of the valors of dead chivalry, An’ the bravery of old knights n’ lords.
They sighs ‘cause the romances of knighthood is past, ‘Cause there ain’t no ideals any more; They says that this old world’s a rollin too fast To develop that “esprit de corps.”
But them as complains are the ones as don’t know, Who sits loose where it’s warm and then kick – They ain’t never seen a lige saggin with snow An’ had to get service back – quick!
They ain’t never struggled with Death at their side, A-snappin’ and hissin’ and pale – Nor clung to the towers and grimly defied The assaults of the blizzards and gale.
They sit and are served with never a thought Of the fellers out pluggin’ like Hell – To supply at their touch the service they’ve bought With a light, or the sound of a bell.
These fellers ain’t togged out all shinin’ in steel, They don’t ride around on no hoss – They don’t sing no songs about how they feel In the gales when the feeders may cross.
They don’t wave no banners embroidered in gold, In Latin nobody can read; They don’t do no braggin’ of deeds that were bold, Their motto is “service and speed.”
Their armor ain’t nothin’ but slickers an’ boots Their weapons are climbers and pliers, Their battles are fought up where hi-tension shoots An’ Death lurks unseen on the wires.
They’re fightin’ the gales and the blizzards an’ ice, Protectin’ the towers and span With effort not measured in hours or price – For one cause – just to service the man!
So here’s to the Lineman – the son of a gun That can do without sleep for a week! That sticks to the job ‘til it’s every bit done And the feeders can carry the peak.
For his is that Knighthood that’s noblest by far That highest and mightiest clan, That’s fightin’ the battles of things-as-they-are In the cause of the Service of man. |
