International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers collection

Local Union 111 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) encompasses more than twenty contracts throughout Colorado: Eight rural electric associations, one gas company, one warehouse, two garages, one generating and transmission company, one private utility company, plus Public Service Company of Colorado. The Local has more than thirty unit meetings scheduled each month in all areas of the state.

Local Union 111 received its charter on December 19, 1907, a period of internal dissention in the IBEW. The split was reflected in Local 111’s predecessors, Locals 121 and 479. Growth in both the electrical and telephone industries signaled the rise of Local 111 until 1920, when two militant strikes ended in bloodshed and failure. The political climate of the 1920’s the Red Scare following World War I, and the KKK virtually finished the labor movement in Denver and Local 111 membership plummeted. From 1923 until 1943 the local was kept in operation by a scant twelve members.

The Wagner Act of 1935 gave the labor movement legitimacy and new life. In 1936, locals began organizing on the Western Slope. World War II construction provided an economic lift which expanded both the electrical industry in Colorado and Local 111. After the war, Local 111 increased its membership, won contracts, gaining the right to represent more and more workers in the electrical and telephone industries. By the 1970’s Local 111 had picked up Colorado Ute Electrical Association along with eight Rural Electric Associations, many of which were on the western slope.