"The objects of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers are:
to organize all workers in the entire electrical industry in the United States and Canada, including all those in public utilities and electrical manufacturing, into local unions;
to promote reasonable methods of work;
to cultivate feelings of friendship among those of our industry;
to settle all disputes between employers and employees by arbitration (if possible);
to assist each other in sickness or distress;
to secure employment;
to reduce the hours of daily labor;
to secure adequate pay for our work;
to seek a higher and higher standard of living;
to seek security for the individual;
and by legal and proper means to elevate the moral, intellectual and social conditions of our members, their families and dependents, in the interest of a higher standard of citizenship."

                   Preamble to the first Constitution of the IBEW