A sizable segment of IBEW members works for the U.S. and Canadian governments.  There is hardly an agency of the government that does not need trained IBEW electrical workers to carry out its purposes.  In naval and coast guard shipyards, naval ordnance plants and various defense activities, electricians, linemen, gyro and electronics technicians, electric-crane repairmen, and others are essential to the defense of our nations and the safety of our people.

IBEW members work aboard ships, on all types of transmission lines, in all kinds of shops providing maintenance to federal buildings and equipment, on communications work of every type, on navigational locks and dams, on hydro- and steam-driven electric power generating plants, and on numerous jobs in every branch of government service.   They are employed in many federal agencies, bureaus and departments; such as each branch of the armed services, the General Services Administration, Bureau of Reclamation, National Park Service and Department of Veterans Affairs.

IBEW members work on such installations as the Tennessee Valley Authority and the Bonneville Power Administration, and in national laboratories like Sandia and Brookhaven.  In Canada, IBEW members perform highly skilled electronics work in several departments of the Treasury Board of Canada.