The IUOE Today

    Today, the IUOE numbers 400,000 members in some 200 local unions throughout the U.S. and Canada.

    They are, in point of fact, among the best in the business. They are highly skilled craftsmen and women who learn by doing and through comprehensive training programs.

     As the best in their crafts in skills and production, Operating Engineers earn some of the top wages in their fields. They also enjoy benefits packages second to none.

    Just as important, as members of the IUOE they are able to exercise a degree of self-determination about all aspects of their union and jobs, a right most non-union workers do not have. This self-determination--or better, democracy at work--instills self-respect, pride and dignity on and off the job.

    This freedom of choice begins right in the member's local union. The members elect officers from their own ranks to represent them in their dealings with management, on matters such as contract negotiations, grievance and arbitration procedures, working conditions and benefits.

    In the IUOE structure, local unions enjoy a great deal of freedom and autonomy in their operations, but the international union is available to lend whatever assistance a local and its members require in any specific area of endeavor.

    Overall goals and policies of the IUOE are debated, voted upon and formally adopted by the elected delegates to the union's General Convention which is held every five years.

    The IUOE is governed day-to-day by the general president, who works out of the international headquarters in Washington, D.C. He is assisted by the general secretary-treasurer. These two officers plus fourteen general vice presidents, who are also business managers of local unions, comprise the General Executive Board which has constitutional authority to determine the union's policies and actions between General Conventions. Five local union business managers are elected as international trustees.

    The international headquarters serves as the nerve center for the IUOE's membership services. In keeping pace with modern technology, updated membership lists for all IUOE local unions, as well as financial and contractual records, are stored on computers. The introduction of state-of-the-art computer equipment has improved efficiency and productivity--all of which helps better serve a multitude of local union and membership needs and requests.

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