In the past eight decades, the newspapers of our country periodically have proclaimed to Mr. and Mrs. John Q. Public and the world in general, that various segments of labor and management were at odds. Strikes are big news. Years of good relationship, free from labor strife, are not. However, to the parties involved and to the general public which benefits from amicable labor relations, the NECA-IBEW story is good news of the first order. For over 80 years employers and employees in the electrical contracting industry have been getting along, voluntarily settling their differences between themselves and living in peace. Both have prospered and the public has benefited from better service uncomplicated by strikes. The medium by which labor and management in the electrical contracting industry have done this, has been their Council on Industrial Relations. Now exactly what is this Council? It is a panel composed of six representatives of the National Electrical Contractors Association and six members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. These members meet quarterly and hear the cases brought before them. These Cases consist of matters in dispute, or interpretation of existing agreements. Both sides are heard and a decision is rendered. All decisions, by rules of the Council, must be unanimous.

There is another point which we should like to point out clearly. We often hear today of various arbitration boards functioning throughout the country. The Council on Industrial Relations in essence, is a judicial body rather than a mere arbitration board. The fact that decisions must be unanimous, and that there is never a third party involved in its deliberations, makes it clear that the Council operates to effect just decisions, not merely compromises, that it strives to seek out errors and correct them. This is what makes it unique. This is why our Council on Industrial Relations is far more valuable to the NECA and the IBEW and to the welfare of the whole electrical industry than any mere arbitration board could ever be.

Readers will be interested in a brief history of how the Council was conceived and developed. The Council on Industrial Relations had its beginning in the era immediately following World War I when labor strife was rampant. As early as 1916 a small group of electrical contractors were in the habit of meeting regularly for the purpose of discussing matters pertaining to the electrical contracting industry. This group called itself the Conference Club. It was not a mere social club. Its members carried on serious discussions and presented various papers on matters of concern to the rapidly expanding industry. Some of the questions that came before the Conference Club were difficulties

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