Table of Contents     I. Generating a Century of Progress in Central Indiana II. Eugene Debs: Indiana Labor Activist, Presidential Candidate and Rabble-Rouser III. After Hours IV. Our Proudest Achievements V. The Business Managers of IBEW Local 481

Generating a Century of Progress in Indiana (Top)

IBEW Local 481 When you gaze upon the Indianapolis skyline or visit the cities and towns of central Indiana, you’re looking at one hundred years of accomplishment, courtesy of the hardworking men and women of IBEW Local 481. Take in a game, concert or special event at Conseco Fieldhouse, stroll through vibrant Circle Centre Mall, conduct business at the AUL (One America) Building, tour the nationally top-ranked Children’s Museum of Indianapolis or experience the race-day thrill of the world- famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Your experience is made possible by the effort and expertise of union electrical workers. In fact, countless numbers of our homes and businesses, our shopping, social, institutional, governmental, industrial, healthcare and recreational venues and the transportation hubs that get us from place to place are powered by Local 481’s finest. And that’s been true since 1906. On February 25, 2006, the officials, members and retirees of Local 481, family members, dignitaries and other honored guests paused to celebrate the first 100 years of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 481. Come along with us now on a journey into our shared past, a look at where we are today, and a snapshot of our hopes for the future. Come along with us now on a journey into our shared past, a look at where we are today, and a snapshot of our hopes for the future. A Union Hotbed It’s no wonder that the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers would look to establish a presence in central Indiana during the waning days of the 19th century. The state was a union hotbed, home to such colorful- sounding organizations as The Indianapolis Musicians’ Protective Association, The Machinists’ and Blacksmiths’ Union Number 4, The National Typographical Union, and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen, among many others. In fact, the American Federation of Labor—which later merged with the Congress of Industrial Organizations to become the AFL-CIO—was headquartered in Indianapolis from 1895 to 1898. Central Indiana was also home to the famous union activist Eugene Debs, one of our nation’s most popular yet controversial third-party presidential candidates. Between 1897 and 1904, total organized labor membership grew from fewer than 450,000 to over two million working Americans. But no progress was made over this time without an incredible struggle—and even bloodshed. Management used intimidation, spies, blacklists and strikebreaking goons. Workers countered with strikes, boycotts and occasional worksite sabotage. While the notion of organizing a union was a popular one in many circles, the concept had its share of powerful enemies. In 1892, steel mogul Andrew Carnegie brought in the Pinkerton Detective Agency to break up a strike in Pittsburgh. In the aftermath of one bloody clash, two dozen detectives and steelworkers were killed, scores more were wounded, and the state militia was called in. Labor had critics even where more balanced views might be expected. Harvard president Charles W. Elliot, for instance, referred to the brutal and sometimes deadly strikebreakers of the era as, “The finest type of American citizen whose liberty has to be protected at all costs.” Despite the difficult atmosphere for organized labor in general, conditions were ripe for an electricians union. Thomas Edison’s invention of the incandescent bulb had ushered in a new era in lighting. Telephones were the latest communications technology, and homes, businesses, commercial buildings and public spaces were becoming electrified” at a lightning pace all across the country. Electrical workers were in high demand, and in good position to push for safer working conditions, shorter hours and better pay. On November 21, 1891, ten men—including E.C. Hartung from Indianapolis—met in St. Louis at what would become known as the First Convention of the National Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. Henry Miller was named first Grand President and J.T. Kelly was appointed Grand Secretary. This marked the advent of what would become the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. Local 481 was an offshoot of Lineman’s Local #10. That was a typical arrangement of the day. Locals would spring up while a city was being electrified, and then dissolve as the job was finished and the linemen moved on. But 481 had true staying power. It was chartered by the IBEW on February 19, 1906, and the first meeting was called to order five days later, at 8:35 p.m. sharp.

Wednesday Nights at the Paperhangers' Hall

Minutes of that very first meeting, as documented for a 75-year history of the local, indicate that T.B. Wright was elected president and a presentation by “Brother Hays” was expected on “practical electrical subjects, but he reported that he could not give his lecture without a blackboard. Brothers Hays, Foreman and Campbell were then appointed as a Committee to secure a blackboard and it was decided that the lecture would be given at the next meeting.”

The site of the earliest Indianapolis gatherings is lost to history, but we know that by 1907, weekly meetings were taking place on Wednesday nights at the Paperhanger’s Hall on Penn and Market streets. The new chapter’s next president was the previously mentioned Fred Foreman, the top vote-getter for the position…with ten votes.

Meeting halls would change at least fifteen times over the years to come, as would the dates and frequency of meetings. While the Brothers got together once a week in the early years, the schedule would scale back dramatically as other distractions—notably television—interfered.

To get an idea of what else was happening around the country in 1906, the devastating San Francisco Earthquake was the big news event of the year. It took 500 lives and caused $350 million in property damage. Teddy Roosevelt was president of the United States, Oklahoma was in the process of becoming the 46th state, and famed novelist and passionate friend of labor Upton Sinclair published “The Jungle,” a searing indictment of working conditions in the meat-packing industry.

The years between 1907 and 1916 were not particularly stable ones for Local 481 if judged by the leadership turnover. There were at least ten presidents during that early period. The office of business manager was not established until 1913, and the first to take that position was H.E. Courtot.

White Shirt, Black Tie, Black Cap

What’s Labor Day without a parade? The first Monday in September had been named a national holiday in honor of organized labor in 1894. Local 481 decided early in its life to observe the occasion with the formality it deserved. It was considered both an honor and a duty to march in a show of solidarity. But when the novelty wore off, many unionists across the country saw the date as little more than a rare day off work—and who could blame them?

They had to be prodded with both carrots and sticks to join in the festivities. The Detroit Trades Council, for instance, offered fifty pounds of tobacco to the affiliated union with the best Labor Day attendance. In August of 1919, Local 481 adopted a motion to the effect that one and all were expected to show up in fine form for the annual Indianapolis Labor Day parade.

“Each marching member will be attired in white shirt, black tie and black cap,” read the motion. “And unless sick, out of town or on a job, every brother will be represented…or pay a five-dollar fine.”

It was further decided that anyone who became noticeably intoxicated or who disturbed the parade in any way would be fined ten dollars…and suspended from the union until that hefty sum was paid.

We might assume that most members showed up in proper attire and condition, though not necessarily willingly. In 1922, a motion was raised and quickly passed to end compulsory parade attendance.

The War to End All Wars

The post-war boom continued into The Roaring Twenties. Organized labor increased in power, and working conditions improved steadily. This is best described in an IBEW Journal article written by an unnamed press secretary.

“We have closed shop conditions, an eight-hour work day and Saturday half- holiday; double time for all overtime, holidays and Sundays; $1.25 per hour and they let you carry your own lunch if you desire.”

Elsewhere in the same article, which dealt largely with efforts to negotiate a new wage agreement, the press secretary wrote: “Among the various changes we are asking for is a five-day week. Other local unions have this and it has been found workable.”

Edward Berndt was elected business manager in 1927. Lutz would win election later that year and hold the office of business manager for the next eleven years, before his first election to the state legislature. Even during the best of times, 481 faced the constant challenge of keeping “the loafing list,”—the rather insensitive term for workers on the bench—to a minimum.

The press secretary of 1927 wrote in the IBEW Journal, “Living is high and as usual we have a good sized loafing list. Our worthy business agent, Edward Berndt, was forced to buy a new car last week as he wore out the Chevrolet hunting for jobs for the boys. My own desire is that he will soon have the town as tight as his new closed model.”

The worst was yet to come.

In With a Roar

The post-war boom continued into The Roaring Twenties. Organized labor increased in power, and working conditions improved steadily. This is best described in an IBEW Journal article written by an unnamed press secretary.

“We have closed shop conditions, an eight-hour work day and Saturday half- holiday; double time for all overtime, holidays and Sundays; $1.25 per hour and they let you carry your own lunch if you desire.”

Elsewhere in the same article, which dealt largely with efforts to negotiate a new wage agreement, the press secretary wrote: “Among the various changes we are asking for is a five-day week. Other local unions have this and it has been found workable.”

Edward Berndt was elected business manager in 1927. Lutz would win election later that year and hold the office of business manager for the next eleven years, before his first election to the state legislature. Even during the best of times, 481 faced the constant challenge of keeping “the loafing list,”—the rather insensitive term for workers on the bench—to a minimum.

The press secretary of 1927 wrote in the IBEW Journal, “Living is high and as usual we have a good sized loafing list. Our worthy business agent, Edward Berndt, was forced to buy a new car last week as he wore out the Chevrolet hunting for jobs for the boys. My own desire is that he will soon have the town as tight as his new closed model.”

The worst was yet to come.

Charles Lutz

The Loafing List

That notorious “loafing list” would increase dramatically as the decade turned and the 1930s ushered in The Great Depression. As businesses closed and jobs and homes were lost from coast to coast, the divide between the haves and the have-nots grew.

One Local 481 member, writing in the 1931 Journal, asked, “Will this be a great nation of peons with a few overlords or multi-millionaires, or shall this country go forth and bring happiness into the homes where starvation is slowly creeping in and soup lines are getting longer?”

Wages were cut in half, to 75 cents per hour, and work was nearly impossible to find.

Veteran member Fred Burckes recalled years later how the men would ride the street car into the union shop, which at that time was at 312 East Washington Street. “If there was no work,” he’s reported as saying, “they’d walk home, sometimes as far as 30 blocks, in order to save the four cents.”

Strife increased between management and labor during these difficult times. When the authorities asked newspapers to suppress news of labor strikes and disturbances, Talcott Powell, editor of the Indianapolis Times, replied in this 1934 editorial:

“The only way that I know of to suppress news of a strike…is for capital and labor to get together under the principle of collective bargaining, as laid down by the President of the United States, and settle the strike itself. Once settled, it has no further news value.”

Nationally, the movement had a powerful ally in Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the nation’s 32nd president. As Roosevelt stated in a Cleveland speech in 1936, “It is to the real advantage of every producer, every manufacturer and every merchant to cooperate in the improvement of working conditions, because the best customer of American industry is the well-paid worker.”

Local leaders also made efforts to find good jobs for working people. Indianapolis Mayor Reginald Sullivan, the city council and members of the board of public works insisted that only organized labor—including a significant contingent from 481—work on the capital city’s first airport, built in 1931 at the regal cost of $700,000.

As this difficult decade wound down, the Indianapolis Star summed up the accomplishments of organized labor in the state on its New Year’s Day 1938 issue in this way: “Unparalleled and unprecedented has been the record of achievement and expansion of the union labor movement in Indiana during the year 1937.”

In 1939, Roy Creasey became business manager and held the position through the mid-Fifties.

War and Prosperity—Again

If the Great War had been a boon to the U.S. economy, that would be even truer of World War II. After December 7, allies against Germany and Japan, American men and women worked ‘round the clock to keep up with the new industrial and technological demands.

Membership in the IBEW nearly doubled during these years. International President Ed J. Brown stated that IBEW members “performed 95 percent of all the electrical work used and installed in the prosecution of the war effort.”

On the local front, chapter membership increased from 265 in 1938 to 408 by 1950, gaining it additional clout. Local 481’s expanded power base helped make medical benefits a reality during the immediate post-war period.

The apprenticeship training program was established in 1946 by Local 481 members Joe North and Harry Perkins. Classes were held two nights a week at Tech High School---Joe teaching one night and Harry the other.

Former business manager Jerry Payne knew both men. “Joe was so serious about what he was doing…and Harry Perkins could take an eraser and hit you right between the eyes (if you weren’t paying attention),” he recalls with a chuckle.

The first class of twelve graduated in 1948. The ceremony was held at the Canary Cottage, on the southwest corner of Monument Circle. That same year Robert George was the Indianapolis Electrical Joint Apprenticeship Committee’s “Apprentice of the Year.” Jim O’Mara would win the honor the following year and go on to become the program’s first training director.

Norton became the pioneer Apprenticeship Committee chairman, a post he held until 1963. It surprised no one that Perkins, who had been the Secretary of that committee and his partner in training, assumed that top leadership position after Joe vacated it.

Harry Perkins

The Nifty Fifties

The economy of the heady war years spilled over into the Fifties, but with the added advantage of relative peace. While the Korean War of 1950-53 took more than 54,000 American lives, it had a hard time measuring up in the public psyche to the estimated 55 million total deaths brought about by the previous decade’s global conflict.

Except for the occasional and thankfully brief slowdown, such as during the winter of 1954-55, the Fifties were perhaps Local 481’s longest period of uninterrupted prosperity. Jobs were plentiful for the millions of returning vets as industry shifted to a peacetime economy.

“The 1950’s and the Sixties were the best years I spent,” recalls Local 481 retiree Ed Traugott.

It was in this spirit of optimism and productivity that the Local underwent several beneficial changes under longtime business manager Wesley Taylor. Taylor assumed the top leadership position in 1954, and held it for more than twenty years.

“A good, friendly guy,” is how he’s recalled by Lew Evans.

Pail Nieman, another retiree from the Local, remembers Taylor as being “tough when it came to negotiating.”

To prove that point, Taylor earned notable gains in health and welfare benefits for members. Healthcare coverage for dependents was added to the benefits package in 1955, and the vacation fund was added in 1957. While both benefits tend to be taken for granted today, they represented a most welcome addition to the basic paycheck when introduced.

“I never had a vacation until we had the vacation fund,” says veteran member Joe Elder.

While mid-century collective bargaining made the job better than ever for members and their families, working conditions were far from easy. For one thing, the job demanded brawn as well as brains. The tools of the day required a strong back and no aversion to sweat.

Evans, who joined 481 in 1953, remembers digging ditches at 17 Sunoco stations – with a shovel. After eight hours a day of that, he and his union brothers would have had no need for a gym!

The union moved yet again in 1954, this time setting up shop at 1331 North Delaware Street, its home for the next couple of decades.

The Cold War simmered in the background in the Fifties, to the point where most Americans believed that armed conflict with the Soviet Union was inevitable. It was just a trigger-flash away, and had the potential to cause more American deaths and devastation than all the century’s previous wars combined. In that somber mood, the members of Local 481 installed what was billed as the largest air-raid siren in the country. It stood high atop the former L.S. Ayres Building in downtown Indianapolis.

Wesley Taylor

Bell Bottoms, Social Unrest…and Stability at Home

While the Sixties became known as a time of great social upheaval in America, the decade actually brought on a new level of security and stability for the members of Local 481. That’s because the pension fund, introduced in 1964, guaranteed a comfortable and worry-free retirement. The first checks were handed out to grateful retirees at a dinner-dance in 1965.

The Local quickly added 40 inside wiremen to membership roles in 1961 when IBEW Local 281 in Anderson, under the leadership of Paul Richards, voted to merge with the larger Local. This would be the first of two smaller chapters that would join forces with 481 over the next couple of decades.

The year 1962 brought wider regional recognition to the Local and its partnership with NECA when volunteers in both camps joined forces to light up Monument Circle in the Soldiers and Sailors Monument for the holidays. It was the first of what was to become an annual tradition, a sparkling jewel of a gift to the city from organized electrical workers and contractors.

On the political front, Business Manager Taylor and the officers and members of Local 481 worked long and hard and were ultimately successful in convincing the legislature and Governor Roger D. Branigin to repeal the state’s so-called “Right to Work” law in 1965, that had been in effect since 1957.

Among organized labor’s most powerful allies during this period was Indiana’s own Birch Bayh. The magnetic farmer, lawyer and politician was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1962, and served Indiana through the 1970s. He earned a national reputation for his leadership, and even seriously contemplated a run for the White House. Local 481 was proud to support Bayh in several campaigns.

Unemployment Zero

The face of downtown Indianapolis changed dramatically in the final few decades of the 20th century—and that meant ample work for members. A Reader’s Digest article that came out early in the Seventies described Indianapolis as undergoing an unparalleled building boom.

Market Square Arena and Market Tower contributed toward changing the city’s skyline for the better. Press secretary James M. Taylor addressed the issue in a report headlined “Job Availability Good; Unemployment Zero” that ran in the July, 1973 edition of the IBEW Journal.

He wrote, “The most enjoyable single subject to write about would be that job availability is good and that our unemployment is zero. This is the case in our area.”

Taylor listed a few of the projects in and around Indianapolis that were bringing steady work to members. These included The Federal Building, Market Square Arena, Westview Hospital and the corporate offices of International Harvester.

In 1972, the Crawfordsville Local merged with 481, adding another 50 active and retired members to membership roles.

As magical as the words “unemployment zero” sound, the condition could not be expected to last forever. In a demonstration of how quickly fortunes can change, the well ran dry soon after this glowing report. In a write-up prepared in commemoration of the Local Union’s 75th anniversary, the winter of 1974 and ’75 was remembered for the dubious distinction of having had “the most men out of work in the history of 481.”

But things picked up once again toward the end of the seesaw decade, at least to the extent that the new Business Manager, Jerry Payne, hired the local’s first full-time organizer in 1979, Virgil Barber. That final year of the decade also brought another advantage for the Brothers and Sisters of 481. A credit union was started in conjunction with Local 873 of Kokomo. It was a modest beginning, with seven depositors. But by the end of 1981, more than 600 union members held their savings—combined assets totaling nearly $325,000—at the Indianapolis-Kokomo IBEW Credit Union.

The A.U.L. Pension Plan, now called the Money Purchase Pension Plan, was added to the benefits package under the direction of pension plan trustees Jerry Payne and Joseph “Jeff” Lohman—both of whom later served in the top position of Business Manager for the Local. “There’s some 18- to 20-year-old kid today who, by the time he retires at age 55, could be worth a million dollars, thanks to that plan,” says Payne, who, in 1978, became the youngest elected business manager of 481 at the age of 31.

“Jerry was outspoken,” recalls retiree Ed Traugott. “He had deep feelings for the labor movement.”

On The Bench

The 1980s were a challenging time for 481. Veteran member Tom Alexander remembers it as a time when there were “a lot of good guys on the bench.”

As Payne recalls events, “When I first became business manager, we had massive unemployment. We had a hundred people on the books just about all the time, and that was out of just 600 members.”

Payne took pride in democratizing the Local’s relationship with members. He made it a priority to open up the referral service procedure so that members would have more of a voice in finding work as close to their home as possible.

In 1982, Local 481 was on the move once again, leaving its home of nearly three decades to set up temporary quarters on West 71st Street. It was about time, according to 481 officer John Payne. The Delaware Street address “was old and needed a lot of work,” he reports. In 1985, the union relocated to 1712 North Meridian Street in the Merchants Bank building on the second floor for what would be an extended period—but hardly its final move.

Jerry Payne honored his pledge to serve only two three-year terms as business manager. His replacement and good friend Jeff Lohman was business manager until 1988. The veteran Traugott remembers Lohman as being “really intelligent.”

“It was a very tough time economically, especially in the beginning of my term, in ’83, ’84,” says Lohman, looking back. The Local rode out the difficult times and found work when it was available. Work returned to the area with landmark projects such as the Hoosier Dome (RCA Dome) and the Bank One (Chase Bank) building, the tallest structure in downtown Indianapolis.

Lohman and the union responded to the unemployment with activism on the state political front. “We helped Evan Bayh (son of Birch Bayh) become secretary of state and then governor, and we helped change the State House of Representatives from Republican to Democratic control.” He was also instrumental in negotiating COPE language in the collective bargaining agreement. This allowed members to voluntarily have five cents per hour deducted from their pay to be used to support labor friendly candidates - giving the Local Union tremendous economic political clout.

In 1988 Lohman was appointed as International Representative for the 6th District and in 2005 became the International Vice President for the 6th District, a position he currently holds.

In 1988 Virgil Barber became the third Business Manager of that decade. Barber and his team worked aggressively to create a member-funded targeting program. The purpose was to gain work opportunities for contractors, which would create jobs for members. Barber became the Administrator of the Health & Welfare Pension plan in 1990.

Our Proudest Achievements (Top)

Of the countless thousands of projects the Brothers and Sisters of 481 have worked on over the last century, several stand out for aesthetic value, visibility within the community, or simply because the project provided jobs when work was needed most. In other cases, the workload has been ongoing -- sometimes for decades.

"We're a very diverse town. We've never had to be totally dependent on any one industry," explains business manager Tom O'Donnell.

That's why the following list, a roundup of some of the Local's main accomplishments and long-time work sites in central Indiana, is as diverse as the region.

Allison Transmission & Engines	Indiana State Museum
AUL (One America) Building	Indianapolis Airport
	Indianapolis Children's Museum
	Indianapolis Motor Speedway
	Indianapolis Museum of Art
	Indianapolis Public Library
	International Harvester (Navistar International)
	IUPUI Campus
	Ivy Tech State College
	Market Square Arena
	Market Tower
	National Starch
Bank One (Chase) Building	NCAA Headquarters
Bartholomew County Hospital	Nucor Steel
Blue Cross Building	Public & Private Schools
Bridgeport (Olin) Brass	Qualitech Steel
Brockway Glass
Camp Atterbury
Chevrolet Truck & Bus
Circle Centre Mall
City County Building
Community Hospitals
Conseco Fieldhouse
Cummins Engine
Eiteljorg Museum
Farm Bureau (Anthem) Building
	RCA Dome
	Riley & I.U. Medical Center
	Rock Island
	St. Francis Hospitals
	St. Vincent Hospitals
	The Pyramids
	Western Electric
	Westview Hospital
	Wynona Hospital
	Eli Lilly Pharmaceuticals
Ford Plant (Eastside)
Gold Building
Golden Foundry
Guide Lamp
Hotels & Motels
Hoosier Dome
Hyatt Regency Hotel
Indiana State Government Center
Indiana National Bank Tower
Indiana State Fairgrounds

...Along with the many war memorials honoring countless veterans including some Brothers & Sisters of IBEW Local 481.

These projects would not have been made possible without our partnership with the following:

• National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA)
  Executive Manager, Larry VanTries

• The Quality Connection
  Executive Director, Nanci Fields

   

• Local 481 Signatory Employers:

  Communication	Manufacturing
  Electrical	Motor
  High Voltage	Sign
  Maintenance	Traffic Signal

Full Employment

The new decade brought yet another new business manager, David Ruhmkorff. His term, through August 1994, was a busy and prosperous time for the Local and its members. For starts, the apprenticeship enrollment would more than double in size and went form a 4-year to a 5-year program by the end of Ruhmkorff’s term.

“We had full employment,” says Ruhmkorff. “There were peaker generator stations, there was school work, hospital work…”

In fact, members found employment throughout the Local’s 16-county jurisdiction. Major undertakings included Knauf Fiberglass in Shelbyville, the United Airlines Maintenance Hub, the USA Funds project in Fishers and the Toyota plant in Columbus.

It was becoming obvious to young people that the electrical industry could be the key to a productive future. In 1990, the Indianapolis Electrical JATC moved into a new 13,000 square-foot facility to meet expanding enrollment—and yet they’d outgrow it in the decade that followed.

It wasn’t just the apprentices who changed addresses. Early in the decade, Local 481 would make its final move to date. The spacious union headquarters and meeting hall at 1828 North Meridian Street—the former United Way building—was just down the street from the Local’s last address. The previous site’s central location in the city was advantageous, but it was so cramped for space that union meetings had to be conducted elsewhere.

“We wanted a place where members could call home and take pride in, and we accomplished that through this building,” says Ruhmkorff, looking back. The 30,000- square-foot facility fit the bill then, and continues to do so today. In August of 1994 Ruhmkorff was appointed as an International Representative for the 6th District.

Tom O’Donnell, after six years as a Business Agent, succeeded Ruhmkorff as Business Manager and still serves in that position today. The shell for the Circle Center Mall was approaching completion by the city. O’Donnell, at that time, was also the Vice President of the Central Indiana Building Trades Council and had completed negotiations on the Project Labor Agreement for the tenant finish work for Circle Center Mall with the Simons Property Group. The mall along with the many other area projects created a construction boom that would utilize 400 travelers over the next two years.

The 1994 general elections saw the House of Representatives in the State of Indiana taken over with a Republican majority in a landslide across the nation led by Newt Gingrich and his Contract with America. What followed in the Republican-dominated state legislature of 1995 was a bill that attempted to gut the Indiana State Prevailing Wage Law. Not content to sit by and let this new legislation take effect without a fight, Business Manager O’Donnell helped organize 25,000 union members and supporters who rallied at the Indiana Statehouse, the largest demonstration in the history of the state legislature. Even after the-bill’s passage, the unions and its members refused to give up. “After a dogfight through the courts we were able to get a ruling on the new legislation, making it more labor friendly,” says O’Donnell.

Another notable accomplishment of the early O’Donnell era was “mutual gains bargaining,” a strategic approach toward reaching an agreement between the Local and its signatory contractors that’s mutually beneficial rather than adversarial. O’Donnell says, “Before, we’d ask for unreasonable demands and then the contractors would ask for ridiculous concessions. This only led to animosity and deadlock, whereas the aim of mutual gains bargaining is to immediately seek out common ground.”

With this new “win-win” strategy in place, bargaining between the two groups became more efficient and left fewer hard feelings. It allowed the membership to take a ratification vote on their new contract, something that had not happened for nearly two decades. Every agreement since has been ratified in the same fashion.

In the middle of this productive decade, O’Donnell and his officers took their show on the road. Savvy to the fact that Local 481 represents more than just Indianapolis-based members, the team began to host town meetings to keep everyone in the loop.

“We go out to Crawfordsville, to Anderson, to Columbus and many other destinations in the jurisdiction and deliver a presentation. Discussions include health and welfare and pension updates, area work outlook, legislative issues and any other membership concerns, all addressed in an open forum,” says O’Donnell.

Today

The 21st century has brought a mix of new challenges and fresh opportunities. Organized labor is being tested on multiple fronts every day. The global economy is having a devastating effect on the paychecks, pensions and healthcare of working American men and women, and the middle class is steadily shrinking. Local 481 is no exception to runaway costs threatening the continuation of retiree healthcare.

O’Donnell says, “There was a concern that the subsidy by the active members was rapidly accelerating so we created the retiree pre-funded healthcare (RPF) fund.”

Unemployment, brought on by the cyclical nature of construction, is an unfortunate industry reality. In the past, idled Local 481 members who were willing to travel could look beyond central Indiana, but that’s no longer the case. Recent economic conditions have slowed construction nationwide.

“The steel mills in northwestern Indiana used to always have work, but not anymore,” says Lohman, the former business manager.

Local 481 members can take heart in the fact that we’ve always pulled through rough times. While the Great Depression ended the optimism of The Roaring Twenties, the decade eventually yielded to the productive war years and the 1950s, a golden age for labor.

In other words, prosperity, in one form or another, is always around the corner when economic conditions are at a low point. The organized electrical workers of central Indiana have plenty to be thankful for. There are good projects in development and more work on the horizon.

The most notable of these recent undertakings includes a trio of ambitious downtown construction projects that will bring untold prestige to the city and add billions of dollars to the region’s economy. The five-star Conrad Hilton Hotel, the Colts Stadium and Convention Center, and the airport’s new midfield terminal represent plenty of good-paying jobs for the Brothers and Sisters of 481.

“All of these projects will be built under PLAs,” says O’Donnell, who has also served as president of the Central Indiana Building Trades Council since 1996, and chief negotiator.

Training

The technology in our industry has changed so much over the years, therefore our apprenticeship had to adapt to these changes.

From our humble beginnings at Tech High School, beginning in 1946 with two part-time instructors, Harry Perkins and Joe Norton, followed by the first full-time training director, Jim O’Mara in 1966, the Apprenticeship has seen many changes.

In 1970, the Apprenticeship took on a new address, moving into the Ivy Tech facility on East Washington Street, where it remained for the next 20 years. In 1990, Jim O’Mara and the Apprenticeship Committee oversaw the purchase of the first industry-owned training center, the 13,000-square-foot facility located at 1481 West Market Street. Also that same year, Ron Christ took over as the second Apprenticeship Director and remained in that capacity for 14 years.

The 90’s, like previous decades, brought many changes and substantial growth. The Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee partnered with Ivy Tech State College so that training program graduates would at the same time earn an Associates Degree in applied science with an electrical specialty. The program continues to be a tremendous success.

“We went from training about 170 apprentices to now training over 500, and the Apprenticeship went from a four-year to a five-year program,” says Sean Seyferth, treasurer of Local 481 and a Joint Apprenticeship Training Committee (JATC) member.

In 2002, the Indianapolis Electrical JATC moved into a world-class, 31,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility which is proudly named The Electrical Training Institute. The facility is also a valuable resource for Journeymen who want to receive upgrade training at little or no cost in order to stay abreast of constantly changing technology.

“It seems as though the hot topics in training are safety and industry certifications,” says Jim Patterson, current Apprenticeship Director. He adds that new and changing technologies will remain a top education priority for Journeymen Wireman and Apprentices of the local union.

The superior training program and supportive environment haven’t gone unnoticed among those who embrace the electrical field as a career. “In 1993, we controlled 30 percent of the market share, and now we have over 50 percent,” states Seyferth of the Local Union’s successful recruitment practices.

Put another way, the number of members has grown from 1,100 to 2,500 between the years 1994 and 2006. The rate of signatory contractor growth over the same period is nearly as dramatic. The numbers have risen from 40 to more than 80 contractors.

The Business Managers of IBEW Local 481 (Top)

The office of business manager was established at Local 481 in 1913. The following is a list of all recorded business managers of Local 481 up to the present day:

H.E. Courtot (1913-1916)

Edward Berndt (1927)

Charles Lutz (1927-1938)

Roy Creasey (1939-1954)

Wesley Taylor (1954-1976)

William Corns (1977)

Jerry Payne (1978-1983)

Joseph "Jeff" Lohman (1984-1987)

Virgil Ray Barber (1988-1989)

David Ruhmkorff (1990-1994)

Thomas O'Donnell (1994-)

Embracing the Next Century of Progress

As we mark the first one hundred years of Local 481…its many milestones and accomplishments and the obstacles we’ve overcome…the dreams we’ve helped fulfill…and the lives we’ve shaped…what it adds up to is a century of progress generated in central Indiana. Progress that wouldn’t have happened without the involvement of the thousands of skilled, hard-working and dedicated men and women of Local 481.

“The only time I was off was for two weeks,” says retiree Paul Neiman, looking back on a four-decade career with the Local.

“I think I was off for a week when I was an apprentice,” recalls Tom Alexander, who put in a productive half- century with 481. He adds that his decent wages over that time helped put three daughters through college.

Mike Donovan, the local’s vice president, says that joining 481 was “the best decision I’ve ever made.”

These are typical of the positive thoughts expressed by numerous longtime members, officers and retirees, all of whom treasure their relationship with Local 481. It’s to all of the present-day members and those before us, and those who will follow that we dedicate this commemoration. We look back in pride while at the same time eagerly embracing the future of Local 481 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.