The Birth of the IUEC
The International Union of Elevator Constructors began inauspiciously
on a hot summer day in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was July
15, 1901. Eleven men were gathered in a room at the Griswold
Hotel. Brothers H. McLaughlin and E. Oliver came from New
York, Brothers J.S. Holmes and John Lally from Chicago, F.
W. Doyle from St. Louis, Walter McIntire and Frank F. Moxon
from Boston, Brothers W. Young and J. Giberson from Philadelphia,
and of course, Brothers George W. Porter and David G. Barnett
from Pittsburgh. It did not take this small group long to
come to an agreement. These men represented locals in their
cities that, they decided, would benefit from a broader base
of power and representation. There were other cities that
had formed unions at this time but did not attend this meeting
in Pittsburgh .
At the meeting in the Griswold Hotel, John Lally was appointed
as temporary Secretary and was later elected 1st General Vice-President.
Committees were formed to draft rules of order, by-laws, and
a constitution. The representatives worked through the night
and presented their work collectively in the morning. Everything
was adopted, and the union's framework was in place. By lunch,
the officers of the new union had been nominated, elected,
and installed. The first President of the fledgling national
union was F.W. Doyle of St. Louis. Election results made H.
McLaughlin 2nd Vice-President, D.G. Barnett 3rd General Vice-President,
Joseph Giberson 4th General Vice-President, and Walter McIntire
5th General Vice-President. William Young was elected General
Secretary Treasurer.
They were unanimous in their resolve and solidarity. They
knew what they wanted, and they created it together in record
time. The same day, charters were applied for; a $5 charter
fee was paid and six locals suddenly had been transformed
into a national trade union. Quickly, they made application
for charter and membership in the National Building Trades
Council of the American Federation of Labor. It was a no nonsense
beginning. The total expense of the convention was $13.90.
After the collection of the charter fees, the newly formed
National Union of Elevator Constructors went home with a treasury
in the black of $16.10.
It had taken just three days to form an organization which
would promote and protect the interests of thousands of elevator
constructors across America then and now. The IUEC, like many
of the building trades unions, came at the dawn of the modern
technological revolution, which had as a first symbol, the
"skyscraper:" But there could be no skyscrapers
without elevators. Technology created the need, and members
of the IUEC filled that need, becoming the most qualified
and trained constructors of elevators in the world. This need
for qualified Elevator Constructors to make higher rises possible,
gave the IUEC its strength.
