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Local
Union 124's Charter was approved September 5, 1905. |
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Since
1915, the members of Local 124 have not gone on strike. |
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Construction
began on the Local Union's current facilities on February 14,
1973. |
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SUMMARY
This is
a prelude to the complete history as compiled by past
officers, agents and members of Local Union 124, many of whom
were a part of this history. |
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The events recorded here have
been taken from the brief records of the Local
Union. Little information of the struggle in the
early days to organize workers in the area is
available. These were the days when it was necessary
for the members to keep their membership cards in their
shoes. Nor is much information available of the 1915
strike when Jim Joyce was Business Manager. (Last
strike held by LU 124.) In addition, few or no
records are available for the following: |
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The first pension plan of the Local was established in the
1920's. This plan was active for a few short years and then due
to the economy was abolished. |
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During those first days, devoted and interested Journeymen
donated, without compensation, their time, energy and
knowledge each week to the training and educating of the
Local's Apprentices in the basement of the old Labor
Temple at 14th and Woodland. These instructors
were later classified as the "Educational
Committee" of the Local. This committee became
the foundation of the present Joint Apprenticeship and
Training Committee we participate in today. |
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In the trying days of the Depression in 1929 and early 1930's,
when work was so scarce, it was necessary to rotate
men on jobs every two weeks. |
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The Local is deeply indebted to those members who gave of
their time, energy and knowledge to the Local while
serving in various activities during the years, and while
the names of many members are not identified, the legacy
that they have left us remains a monument to their memory. |
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Much remains to be accomplished in the refinement of these
happenings of the Local. There are many items which
should be expanded upon and some, no doubt, to be
deleted. This will be left to those responsible for
the revision of these writings and the addition of events
to follow. |
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Roy
E. Smiley - 1980 |
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The Kansas City Electrical Workers were first issued a
Charter No. 18 in March of 1892 by the National Brotherhood
of Electrical Workers of America. This was a mixed
local of inside wiremen and linemen. Its first
president was F.J. Roth and the first financial secretary
was L.M. Rose. The members experienced many difficult
times but in spite of the many obstacles, they were
determined to continue on. |
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Records of the early days of the
local are very scarce - no minutes of Local No. 18 are
available. In 1905, for reasons unrecorded, the local,
then meeting at 1333 Grand Avenue, decided to regroup and
requested a new charter from the International Office.
The application was approved and on September 5, 1905, the
local was chartered as Local No. 124 of the International
Brotherhood of Electrical Workers for inside wiremen.
The name of the brotherhood was changed from
"National" to International Brotherhood of
Electrical Workers in 1899. |
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Charter members of Local No. 124 were: Henry Aberer,
Fred Geiss, Thomas J. Carrol, Riley Downey, John C. Carrol,
Charles McCallum, Charles D. Calkins, Henry Boese, and John
A. Castelow. |
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Records of the early years of the local are very scant, in
fact, no minutes of the Local's meetings are available from
1905 until 1916. However, we have ascertained from
records on hand, that the first elected President of the
local was W.C. Welch and the first financial secretary was
Harry C. Marshall. Meetings of the Local were held
weekly and officers were elected for a period of six months. |
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In about 1907, the local moved to 1112 Locust, (the present
site of the City Hall) and continued there until 1910 when
the local moved to the new Labor Temple, then located at
14th and Woodland. The site is now part of Interstate
Highway 70. |
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In 1915, during the construction of the Union Station, the
Local voted to strike to improve conditions. Those
were difficult times for the 231 members, as the strike
lasted for a period of nine months. It was a very
educational period and proved to the employers and the
members the value of settling our difficulties through
negotiations. Since 1915, to date of this writing, the
inside wiremen have not gone on strike. |
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For
a complete, detailed copy of this Local Union's history, contact
the Local Union's Financial Secretary. |
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