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IBEW Local 55 was founded as an outside “A member union". Seventeen men
got together April 5, 1887 to organize the local. They elected officers
and approved a charter which was signed by President H. W. Sherman and
Secretary/Treasurer J. T. Kelley. In its early years Local 55 members
were primarily electric, telephone and cable car linemen.
The wage scale was low and accidents occurred frequently. Local 55
linemen working for Des Moines City Railway Co. and Des Moines Electric
Co. made 53 cents per hour effective April 1, 1918. In 1919 the linemen
began rebuilding the Fort Des Moines light Plant.
At that time, Fort Des Moines was a permanent army post used for
treating
wounded soldiers. That reconstruction job was completed entirely by
union
workers. Also in 1919, the local’s initiation fee increased from $15 per
member to $25.
Work prospered and declined as did the economy over the next several
years. In 1957, Local 55 remained an outside “A” member local with
jurisdiction over 9/10ths of Iowa. There was an increased demand for
rural
electrification during this time frame. In fact, by November 1957 over
1,000
miles of 115 KV and 161 KV high lines had been built. This was 3/4 of a
grid which had been planned 10 years previously.
Another important step for the local occurred on June 24, 1957 when the
membership authorized its business assistant to organize City Water
Works employees.
Then in 1958 the members voted to incorporate “BA” membership hoping to
organize tree trimmer and telephone REA workers.
That same year the local also started apprenticeship classes at Des
Moines Technical High School, Adult Division. Classes met four hours
each
Saturday morning and the Kurtz Lineman’s Handbook was the official
reference manual. However, at that time line construction lessons
compiled by the International Office and NECA were not yet available to
individual students.
As membership continued to grow and the demand for labor increased, the
members decided to build a new union hall in 1971. Local 55 has been
located at the 1435 N.E. 54th Ave., Des Moines site since that year.
In 1980 plans were underway to build an apprenticeship training area
adjacent to the union hall. Those plans fell through, however due to the
liability involved.
Local 55 now has over 620 members and its jurisdiction covers all but
seven of Iowa’s 99 counties. It is an “A” and “BA” local with members in
outside line construction, utility, tree trimming, and telephone,
telegraph,
and CATV construction. Besides line construction, Local 55 now
represents 23 separate units. As the Local continues to grow, so does
its strength and
ability to represent the membership. Future goals for Local 55 include
building the membership to its richest capacity in which each and every
member’s needs can best be served.
New members joining the current brothers and sisters will provide the
strength necessary to achieve this goal.