The first union to be organized in Waterloo was the Electrical Workers Local 288 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, which was chartered in July 1902 and consisted of 15 original members. In general, the local community was not in favor of unionization at this time, which explains the small membership. As the local utility company expanded its services to include Cedar Falls, new workers were hired and union membership increased to 42 later in the same year.

    These workers sought a shorter workday and an increase in pay; the union’s first demands to be presented to Citizens Gas and Electric Company and Cedar Valley Telephone Company included a nine-hour workday, a pay increase to $2.25 per day, and a guarantee of at least $60 per month. The electric company accepted these terms, but the telephone company refused and union members under its employ proceeded to strike. U.S. Telephone and Telegraph Company bought out Cedar Valley Telephone in 1903 and by the end of the year agreed to the union’s conditions.

    As Waterloo grew during the ensuing years, not only electricians but carpenters were in high demand. As a result, the city gained its second union in 1906, when the United Brotherhood of Carpenters chartered Local 1835; by the end of the year, membership could be counted at 189 workers. The union sought a wage increase and achieved this goal three years later when the pay rate rose from just less than $3 per day to $3.25. Waterloo’s carpenters were more successful at organizing than its electrical workers, as by 1912 80% of the city’s carpenters had joined Local 1835.

    Carpenters were not alone among Waterloo’s craftsmen in organizing. Also in 1906, the American Federation of Labor chartered a Central Labor Council, which sought to ensure representation for all local craftsmen. Other workers in the construction industry, such as painters, plasterers, and bricklayers, were unionized by 1914, and by the end of World War I were joined by bakers, printers, barbers, and firefighters. Overall, though, Waterloo was the scene of relatively little union activity during these years. The city lacked a large manufacturer that would increase not only the numbers but the strength of local industrial workers. The fact that the city’s workers generally hailed from the countryside and were more conservative also hindered the growth of unions.