Historical Note

The history of Local 1-2 properly begins with the Utility Workers Organizing Committee (UWOC) established by the Congress of Industrial Organizations in 1938. Previous practice within the industry had been to have company unions, easily controlled by management. Organizing was facilitated in the New York area by a merger of older local companies (New York Edison, Bronx Gas, the New Amsterdam Company, Central Union Gas, Northern Gas and others) into the Consolidated Edison Company(ConEd). One year after the merger the AFL-affiliated International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) obtained the right to represent ConEd employees, and soon issued charters to each of the seven company unions.

In 1940, after a bitter intra-union dispute in the IBEW between the newly organized utility workers and electrical workers, the ConEd employees pulled out of the international union. The seven utility locals constituted themselves as the Brotherhood of Consolidated Edison Employees. As a newly independent utility workers union, the body took the name Local 1-2, representing the separate identities of two major categories, plant and clerical employees, within ConEd. The governing Council of the Brotherhood included representatives of both categories of workers. The Brotherhood eventually came to represent all unionized workers at ConEd.

In 1945 the Brotherhood was invited to become part of the CIO's Utility Workers Organizing Committee; it would make a significant contribution to the size and power of this body. In 1946, with more than 180 locals organized nationwide, the UWOC transformed itself into the Utility Workers Union of America, CIO. Three of the top officers of the new international union came from New York's Local 1-2.

The first administration of Local 1-2 remained in office for seventeen years, with Paddy McGrath and Andrew McMann as president and Business Agent, and Richland and Marsini as Assistant Business Agents. The personal popularity of McGrath, combined with a system of elections which heavily favored the incumbents, assured the continuation in office of the old guard. In the mid-1950s challenges to the incumbents were mounted by a number of groups, including the United Social Club (Joe Murray), the Security Party (Jim Geoghegan), the Rider Avenue Committee (Sampson and McMann, who had split from the McGrath slate) and "Steam." At the same time, the insurgents attempted to change the by-laws, to replace the practice of system-wide elections and appointed business agents with section-based elections for Board members and business agents - and slates for top officers. In 1958, in a marathon caucus meeting at the New Yorker Hotel, the challengers finally got together and fielded a joint slate known as "The Coalition." In one of the first elections to be conducted by the American Arbitration Association; 16,000 out of 20,000 eligible voters participated. The ballots took several days to count and the opposition won by a substantial margin.

Despite a number of disputes and defections within the Coalition alliance, the new administration managed to remain in office until 1990, when a new insurgent group, the Justice Party turned them out after a hard-fought campaign. Against a backdrop of ongoing internal struggles, the Local also faced a number a challenges from the outside, and an uphill fight against ConEd's attempts to hold back wage increases, trim benefits, and shrink the workforce. Between 1958 and 1962 ConEd bought three power plants from the Transit Authority. Workers in these plants had been represented by Transport Workers Union, Local 101, and the transfer of the plants led to a battle between the TWU and Local 1-2 for jurisdiction over those workers. Local 1-2 emerged victorious, and thereby gained 2,000 members.

The Local has long faced serious health and safety issues, including high rates of cancer among members exposed to asbestos, PCB's, and other toxic substances, and severe injuries due to fire and explosions. There have also been debates within the union about discriminatory practices in ConEd hiring, about the use of nuclear power, and the constant threat of downsizing in the ConEd workforce. In 1968 the Local mounted a two-week strike, which resulted in a return to work with acceptance of the company's original offer. A more debilitating nine-week strike in 1983 resulted in losses for the union, and widespread dissatisfaction with the Local leadership among members. The company had responded quickly and effectively to the black-out threat, demonstrated its ability to run the system using supervisors and even handled a fire emergency in mid-town in record time. After the 1983 strike, the workforce, which had already declined from its 1958 peak of 25,000, was reduced through attrition to 13,000.

Hard times in the Local brought a new series of challenges to the leadership in the late 1980s. In the face of a serious threat from the Unity Party, headed by Mike Cotter, James Joy returned to the post of Business Manager of the Local after serving as International president. He arranged a temporary truce, creating a special post for Cotter - but strife continued, as the leadership sought to oust Cotter and a court-ordered election was held, which restored him to his post. A new round of by-laws changes resulted in the victory of the Justice Party, and its presidential candidate, John Goodman, in September 1990.

Sources:

• For a more detailed history of the Local see the typescript survey report (Harry Van Arsdale Labor Records Project, Survey #387) produced by Jane Latour for the Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives in 1991.