The newly elected officers of LU 103 went out on strike early in 1902. Negotiations were held between the Executive Committee of LU 103 (later the Executive Board), and the Boston and vicinity electrical contractors. Following is a letter (with the new "International" logo) sent to the Salem area by the Executive Committee, dated August 24, 1902, and a copy of the new inside wireman agreement which went into effect on January 1, 1903, so the strike was at least 5 months in duration.

Along with the first officers of Local 103, Joseph Mathews, President; Leonard Kimball, Financial Secretary; John McLoughlin, Recording Secretary, and Theodore Gould, Treasurer, was a young Irishman Peter W. Collins, who was initiated into LU 103 in 1901. A devout Catholic and member of the National Civic Federation, an organization of businessmen, labor men, and the public, which was trying to establish better conditions for working people in the workplace. It was through this membership that Collins met and befriended Frank McNulty, another native of Ireland, and an inside wireman from Local 52 in Newark, New Jersey. McNulty was elected Grand President at the 1903 convention. The convention also approved a full time salary, financed by 50 percent of the $.25 per month per capita tax, for its new President; Secretary Treasurer, Florence Sheehan (a lineman); and seven Grand Vice-Presidents under the Grand President to act as organizers of inside, outside and shop workers. The convention also instituted a $5.00 initiation fee. The action of the convention was approved through a referendum vote of the membership after the convention at this time.

Backed by a strong treasury and full time organizers, and by peacefully settling disputes without costly strikes, the IBEW membership grew from 9,000 to 24,000 members by the 1905 convention.