NATIONAL — Field mechanics employed at PAR Electrical Contractors voted unanimously in an NLRB election to unionize with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 53 in November of 2025. The union is currently working on negotiating an agreement with PAR for its incoming members.
Benjamin Bush, business manager and financial secretary of IBEW Local 53, said that Local 53 is working hard for its workers in this contract.
“So, in this most recent and third election, it was a unanimous decision,” Bush said. “All voters voted in support of the union, and we are currently engaged in negotiations, and what they’re wanting, of course, is better wages [and] better working conditions.”
This win comes after two previous unsuccessful attempts by the IBEW Local 53 to unionize these mechanic workers. Union leaders from Local 53 noted the mechanics want higher wages, better working conditions, storm pay, and grievance arbitration procedures from their employer. Although the vote was supposed to occur in October, the government shutdown delayed vote certification by one month.
The negotiations revolve around nine PAR mechanical workers who work across 12 states, including North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona.
Context
IBEW Local 53 represents workers who build and maintain electrical power lines, trim trees around utilities, operate power plants, work for municipal and rural electric providers, and staff radio and television stations.
They have around 3,200 members in Kansas City and Western Missouri; hundreds of their members already work with PAR. PAR itself is a national electrical construction company located in Gladstone, Missouri.
Bush also mentioned that both PAR and Local 53 have had a longstanding relationship with each other.
“Local 53 has a well-established relationship with PAR; it goes back over 50 years,” Bush said. “We’ve worked well together; we have members who have worked their way through the ranks at the employer from apprentice to superintendent; their current vice president of operations was one of our executive board members. So Local 53 is very intertwined with PAR.”
According to their website, 90% of PAR employees are unionized.
What Mechanics Want From Unionization
Johnny Whitaker is an organizer and business representative of the IBEW Local 53. In an interview with the Labor Beacon, he explained that although the mechanics do work with the union’s members, they don’t receive the same benefits.
“They run with our crews on storms, and currently there’s nothing that holds the company to giving them any kind of emergent pay,” Whitaker said. “Storm pay is one of the big issues.”
Whitaker is referring to storm pay, which is a type of pay where employees who work during storms receive extra compensation for their often dangerous work. He also noted that the mechanics wanted grievance and arbitration procedures, which act as extra protections against firing.
“They want grievance arbitration procedures to protect them and make it where they’re not at-will employees anymore,” Whitaker said.
Essentially, grievance arbitration procedures are sections that can be put into union contracts that give workers a way to challenge disciplinary actions, contract violations, or workplace issues without immediately taking the issue to court. This is done by having a third-party arbitrator who reviews the issue and then decides on the dispute.
A Smaller Piece of a Larger Trend
The mechanics’ decision to join Local 53 follows a larger trend of national growth for the IBEW. According to a press release, in 2025, 24,000 workers joined the IBEW, and in 2026, 30,000 workers joined as of June. That level of record growth for the union hasn’t been seen since the late 1960s. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of electrical workers in the U.S. is expected to increase by 9% from 2024 to 2034, triple the 3% average for all occupations. This record growth will likely ensure a steady supply of membership for the union in the years to come.
However, union growth isn’t just limited to the IBEW.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Missouri’s union membership rate rose from 8.6% in 2024 to 9.8% in 2025, while the national rate increased from 9.9% to 10%.
Response from PAR
The Labor Beacon has reached out to PAR for comment and has not yet received a response. This article will be updated when a response is received.
Patrick Sanders — an Independence native — is a student journalist from the University of Missouri-Columbia writing for the Labor Beacon. Before joining the Labor Beacon, he wrote for KBIA News, a Mid-Missouri NPR-affiliated news organization. Sanders's grandfather Bruce was a long-time member of the postal workers union, and his older cousin is currently in IBEW Local 124. In his free time, Sanders enjoys spending time with friends and family, reading, and weightlifting. He hopes to bring his knowledge of policy to benefit workers in the greater Kansas City area and give working people a fighting chance.
