Welcome, we created this site for the sole purpose of giving the members of the Carpenters’ Electrical Local 57 a choice regarding their future in the electrical industry. Our goal is to give you a choice of better union representation and raise the standard of living for Carpenters’ Electrical Local 57 electricians.
“100% Union” Ruse
The wage and benefit rates provided for under the St. Louis area labor agreement between the Carpenters’ Electrical Local 57 and your employers are significantly below the wage and benefit rates established by the IBEW in St. Louis, Kansas City, and Illinois.
You should be making what we’re (IBEW 1) making, but you’re not:
- Carpenters’ A Card is $10.32 per hour BELOW the IBEW Local 1 journeyman wage package;
- Carpenters’ B Card is $17.07 per hour BELOW the IBEW Local 1 journeyman wage package;
And who decides whether you receive $10.32 (A-Card) or $17.07 (B-Card) per hour less than the IBEW?
According to page 17 of the Carpenters Electrical Local 57 CBA (linked here), your employer decides your qualifications and wage and benefit rates.
You work under an agreement that allows your employer to place you in one of two wage and benefit tiers, both of which are significantly below the standards set by the IBEW. When their top talent leaves for the IBEW, your employers respond by increasing compensation for a select few of their employees they consider more valuable than the rest. It’s easy to see how this action fractures your support for each other. Divide and conquer is a tactic we know well in the labor Movement and it’s not new, it is a common tactic amongst union busters.
WHEN DOES YOUR PAY DROP BY $10 PER HOUR?
There are 20 to 22 working days in a month, or 160 to 176 work hours. Article XV, Welfare (linked here), of the Carpenters’ Electrical Local 57 CBA (linked here) caps the hourly group medical contributions of your employers to 143 hours per month. During every month of the year, from the 144th hour on, your total package compensation drops by $10 per hour. A loss, depending on the month, of between $170 and $330. Every year you are lose between $2,040 and $3,960 in compensation because the Carpenters’ Union gave your employers a discount, cutting your compensation even further! Please know your employer MUST PAY the full prevailing wage rate for EVERY HOUR WORKED on prevailing wage projects, that is YOUR MONEY!
And it’s worse for apprentices!
Did you realize that apprentice hourly compensation is calculated using the lower wage “B-Card” scale? A 60% Local 57 apprentice earns $38.78 per hour (NO VACATION CONTRIBUTION for 1st through 5th term apprentices!), a 60% IBEW Local 1 apprentice earns $47.47 per hour, a difference of $8.89 per hour!
Foreman and General Foreman
The economic disparity widens for site managers. Local 1 foremen receive an additional $6.79 per hour and general foremen receive an additional $13.60 per hour. For Carpenters’ Electrical Local 57 A-Card members (good luck finding an A-Card member), foremen receive $1.50 more per hour and general foremen receive an additional $2.00 per hour. Their two-tier substandard wage system drops that rate again for B-Card members. B-Card foremen receive $0.90 per hour and general foremen receive $1.30 per hour.
How we have helped you
We have engaged in recruitment efforts and are proud of the Local 57 employees who have exercised their federally protected right to join the IBEW in Missouri and Illinois. These employees have wanted a voice, and better wages, and stronger representation. For those of you who remain in Local 57, we have secured prevailing wage restitution.
You have an annuity and received the wage increases you have solely as the result of the IBEW’s efforts to help you. Your employers know we will never stop trying to help you!
How we are working to help you in the future
We want you to have a choice regarding your future in the electrical industry and we are going to work hard in the coming months to give you one.
The Carpenters’ Electrical Local 57 Labor Agreement is set to expire on July 31, 2026. Talk to your friends who have left to join the IBEW. Ask them about their participation in the ratification of the IBEW Local 1 CBA, to directly elect their leaders; ask them about the opportunities the IBEW has provided them; ask them about the representation they are receiving.
We expect the Carpenter’s Union and your employers to fight us, because if we win they will have to pay you more. Please fact check everything they tell you.
If you wish to electronically sign a union authorization card granting the IBEW Local 1 the right to represent you, please click here. Information submitted by you on an authorization card will always be kept strictly confidential.
What is a union authorization card and why should you sign one?
When workers are interested in joining a union, there is a formal process regulated by the government to ensure it’s fair and legal. Unions use authorization cards to gauge support for the union in the workplace. If you sign a card, it shows that you want the IBEW to represent you. The overseeing agency will require at least 30% of Local 57 members sign cards authorizing the IBEW to represent you before we can seek to be recognized as your exclusive bargaining representative. The cards are a way of proving that you want the IBEW to represent you.
Information provided by those signing a union authorization card will be held in the strictest confidence.
We expect you to have questions and are available to meet at your convenience to answer them. We have established several methods for you to contact us, by using the following numbers: (314) 710-3444, (314) 624-5333, or by using the REQUEST A MEETING form
You have everything to gain and nothing to lose! STOP DRINKING THE KOOL-AID!