THE HISTORY OF THE IUOE

1940s

By mid-1941, the International Union of Operating Engineers’ members were playing a large part
in the National Defense program, resulting from President Roosevelt’s declaration of a limited
emergency.

When the Pearl Harbor attack came, there were about 12,000 AFL members employed on defense
projects in the Philippines, Wake, Guam and the Midway Islands. Of these, approximately 400 were
members of the International Union of Operating Engineers, 100 of which were not known as to
whether they were alive or held prisoners of the Japanese. The Executive Board in January provided
that all union members in good standing who were prisoners of the enemy should be continued in
good standing and relieved from payments of dues.

Many operating engineers enlisted in the Seabees, who were among the most colorful troops of the
war. Construction battalions were established by the Navy to build bases outside the continental
limits of the United States. The prime aim was toward sending skilled construction men, also
equipped to fight, into zones adapted for the establishment of bases. Their fame spread throughout
the world for efficiency in carving out bases, airfields and camps on beachheads of Europe and
jungles of the Pacific Islands. Testimony of their heroism and skill lay on the shores of Guadalcanal,
Saipan, and Normandy.

President Roosevelt’s death in April 1945 was mourned by engineers as a true and consistent friend
of labor, who, during the dark years of depression, had been instrumental in forwarding the vast
projects in building and river control, which provided employment members of the union.

The month of May 1945, saw the conclusion of hostilities in Europe and later in August in Asia, a
victory in which the International Union of Operating Engineers and all labor played a vital role.
Serving in the armed forces had been 18,000 members of the International Union of Operating
Engineers, with 275 paying the supreme sacrifice.

The great influx of returning veterans did not, as had been feared, flood the U.S. and Canadian job
markets. Turning to peacetime pursuits, its industries, people and the government moved rapidly
to fulfill equipment needs and consumer desires so long suppressed through the war years. Many
postwar construction projects were starting up early in 1946, requiring the expert skills of union
members.

Our two nations required new housing, new schools, hospitals, roads, institutional buildings,
commercial building, churches, and many other types of structures. Instead of having a depression
as many had forecast, our economy began a sharp upward climb and labor profited thereby in helping
to fill the many construction needs so that America and Canada could “catch up” to requirements
which long had been on the boards but inactive.

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