The International Union of Elevator Constructors (IUEC) is a trade union in the United States and Canada that represents members who construct, modernize, repair, and service elevators, escalators, moving walkways, and other conveyances. The IUEC claims a membership of over 25,000.[2]
The IUEC is a bargaining unit for its members who in turn pay quarterly dues to compensate for the representation. There are various locals throughout the United States and Canada made up of members from the same geographic areas. In conjunction with union employers, the union administers the National Elevator Industry Health Benefit Plans to offer pension benefits and healthcare.[3]
The IUEC forbids modular construction of elevators, preventing the kind of preassembly and prefabrication that have become standard in elevators in the rest of the world, leading to higher elevator costs in the United States.[4][5] The union limits entry of new workers into the field, and has constrained the ability of firms to use new technology to streamline elevator production in the United States.[5]
Data indicates that elevator-related work is the highest paid trade in the United States, with a median wage $47.60 per hour in 2021.[5]
History
In 1932, the union threatened a strike, which prompted the Elevator Manufacturers Association to raise wages.[6]
In 1972, the union was involved in a major elevator strike.[7]
Historically, the union has excluded black members. In 1963, the head of the New York local of the union said it had "maybe three" black members and argued that this was because black people were "afraid of heights."[8] In 1974, the union entered into an agreement with the Labor Department where it pledged to make a "good faith effort" to hire more minority workers.[9]
In 1977, 1,500 union members went on strike against the Westinghouse Elevator Company.[10]
In the early 2000s, Local 1 of the union, which represented 2,900 members, was subject to a federal labor racketeering investigation, leading to the indictment of several union leaders.[11][7]
In 2005, the union was embroiled in a labor dispute with New York's elevator companies over wage increases and over proposals by the companies to streamline elevator construction guidelines.[7] The union also sought to prevent companies from using what it said was unskilled people to make elevator repairs.[7]
The union has lobbied for New York state legislation to require all elevator repairmen to be licensed.[12][13]
The United Auto Workers (UAW), fully named International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, is an American labor union that represents workers in the United States and southern Ontario, Canada. It was founded as part of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) in the 1930s and grew rapidly from 1936 to the 1950s. The union played a major role in the liberal wing of the Democratic Party under the leadership of Walter Reuther. It was known for gaining high wages and pensions for automotive manufacturing workers, but it was unable to unionize auto plants built by foreign-based car makers in the South after the 1970s, and it went into a steady decline in membership; reasons for this included increased automation, decreased use of labor, mismanagement, movements of manufacturing, and increased globalization. After a successful strike at the Big Three in 2023, the union organized its first foreign plant (VW) in 2024.
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