2/16/2009:
In 1932 the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, #714 was established in North Dakota. Other unions had existed in the state for many years, even a Horseshoer’s Union, but efforts to unionize the building trades had met with limited success. In the 1930s, the construction of public buildings during the Depression, and also the rapid electrification of farms across the state, increased the demand for skilled electricians and stimulated the unions to organize. It was difficult to keep qualified electricians as the pay was poor, the hours were long and the work was dangerous. It took three years alongside a master electrician before an apprentice could become a journeyman, and three more years to become a master electrician. Later, the post-war boom of the 1950s saw a renewed demand for electricians, but there were few to be found.
It was not until 1963 that the Electrical Workers hit upon an idea for training apprentices and for keeping skilled electricians abreast of the latest technology. The IBEW combined with the National Electrical Contractors Association to operate a continuous training center at Minot. Two years later, in 1965, the IBEW built a new building to house the classes, and the local contractors supplied the training equipment.
It was on this date in 1968 that the Minot Daily News reported on the five-year success of the program.
At that time, there were 21 members of the class being instructed in such things as arc welding, electric code, blueprint reading and vacuum tube electronics. There was also a course offered on atomic energy. A large laboratory provided by the local contractors housed a sophisticated array of equipment including light boards, tube testing equipment and other state-of-the-art devices. The apprentices met for twenty-six weeks each year for four years at which time they received their journeyman’s license upon successful testing, based on state code.
Over the past forty-six years since the inception of the program, the concepts of handling electricity have significantly changed. Vacuum tubes have been replaced by solid state wiring, and today’s systems rely on computers and fiber optics. Over 1,800 apprentices have gone through the program, which has seen an escalation in students in recent years partially due to the oil field boom according to Bob Wolf of the IBEW in Minot. Most of these students have gone on to careers in the electrical industry owing to a significant, but somewhat rare collaboration of the union and the contractors.
By Jim Davis
Minot Daily News February 17, 1968.
Interview with Bob Wolf, IBEW- 02/11/09
History of North Dakota Labor, by Henry Martinson, 1970
North Dakota Revised Codes 1943