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Guest Name:

Mike Leda

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https://www.ibew153.com/ 

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International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 153 Business Manager and Financial Secretary Mike Leda joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast and discussed the need to grow the Local as a wave of retirements approach.

IBEW Local 153 has nearly 1,100 active members and its jurisdiction covers Berrien and Cass counties in Michigan, plus Elkhart, Kosciusko, Marshall and St. Joseph counties in Indiana.

Last year, the Local doubled the size of its apprenticeship program, despite what Leda called negative feelings toward organized labor in the region. After averaging 20-30 apprentices per year, their classes grew to over 50 apprentices the past two years. He said this growth was due to a larger number of apprentices between the ages of 35 and 40, who seek retirement benefits and insurance. With nearly 300 of its members age 58 or older, and coming 2,000 hours shy of reaching 2 million manhours in 2022, the increase in apprentices has arrived just in time. 

Leda shared Local 153’s outreach plan to continue their growth. The Local hired a third recruiter to organize non-union electrical workers, plus attract apprentice candidates. Another new aspect of the outreach plan is a podcast started by Local 153. Leda explained the podcast will focus on the Locals members, who will tell their stories. He hopes the podcast will help bring in new members by shedding a light on the benefits of being in a union.

Listen to the entire episode to learn more about these topics.


America’s Work Force is the only daily labor podcast in the US and has been on the air since 1993, supplying listeners with useful, relevant input into their daily lives through fact-finding features, in-depth interviews, informative news segments and practical consumer reports. America’s Work Force is committed to providing an accessible venue in which America's workers and their families can hear discussion on important, relevant topics such as employment, healthcare, legislative action, labor-management relations, corporate practices, finances, local and national politics, consumer reports and labor issues.

America’s Work Force Union Podcast is brought to you in part by our sponsors: AFL-CIO, American Federation of Government Employees, American Federation of Musicians Local 4, American Alliance for Manufacturing, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Columbus/Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council, Communication Workers of America, International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers, International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers Local 50, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Crafts, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 6, Ironworkers Great Lakes District Council, The Labor Citizen newspaper, Laborers International Union of The National Labor Office of Blue Cross and Blue Shield, North America, North Coast Area Labor Federation, Ohio Federation of Teachers, Survey and Ballot Systems, United Labor Agency, United Steelworkers.

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