Being a part of a union family meant that your childhood revolved around the union. You had friends from union families,you’d go to union cookouts, and your weekends were spent with other union members. John Sisley, is the 4th generation of 5 family union members working with UA Plumbers, Pipefitters, Refrigeration, Local 364.
Getting into a union job required an apprenticeship, which itself was a difficult task. Programs in the early 60s would often have prospective apprentices fill out a questionnaire to determine if they were fit for the program. Questions inquired about their education level, any outside hobbies they may have, and even their relationship status. This question specified to whether potential apprentices had girlfriends, which implies one of the unspoken requirements to joining a union,
“Two generations ago, you had to be the son of a plumber or pipefitter to get in the union…and of course no females at that point…things were a lot different”
Each answer would receive a score from 0-10 which would determine their eligibility for the program. These questions were developed to determine if an apprentice could truly commit their entire lives to the trade. Sisley believes that nothing has changed since
When he was becoming a pipefitter in 1996, he was an apprentice himself. Apprentices were there strictly to follow orders. It was a dangerous place to work at the time. They would often get hazed, teased and humiliated to the point that many broke down. Lacking safety precautions at the time, apprentices had to watch their back before they became the victim of a workplace accident. To survive the apprenticeship, they had to learn how to piece themselves together and come back to work enough times to earn the respect of your co-workers
“We don’t humiliate folks on the job anymore.. And you know, in retrospect, looking back, none of that was necessary…I didn’t learn anything from that.”
This “boys club” environment affected some more than others. Sisley talks about how mouthy superintendents would have to be careful on construction sites because workers working at high elevations would purposefully drop items to try and kill them. This behavior wasn’t reserved for just superintendents, however,
“If you were gay, you most certainly would have been killed and it goes down as a construction accident.”
There is a huge division amongst union workers and undocumented workers caused by non-union contractors.
They tend to take advantage of undocumented workers by paying them less for their work so that they can offer lower rates to potential clients. It also allows them to be non-compliant to union regulations. The division has en-couraged anti-immigration rhetoric within the labor movement, though many fail to understand the fear many undocumented workers have in join-ing a union due to retaliation. John is working to change this narrative
“It is my pleasure to educate them on how to get out of [non-union work]… if I could bring them in the union, I will. It’s a tough sell, especially to immigrants.”
The most effective way to bring people together is by knowing each other on personal level. Sisley reflects on the importance of union cookouts as a form of community building
“Maybe you’ll drop something on [a co-worker’s] head, you know, but you’re not as apt to do that if you know their wife and kids and their background and you got something in common, right?”
As the faces of our country change, our family needs to reflect those that we are fighting for. It is important to cultivate community, even with those that we are unfamiliar with. Allowing ourselves to accept the time we are in is the key that will bring us into the next generation and continue the never-ending fight.
