By Doug Perry
Organized Labor

Interviews with Volunteers

Painters and Allied Crafts District Council 16 is working with Reverend Amos Brown of the San Francisco Third Baptist Church to upgrade the church gymnasium and meeting rooms to better serve the community. The labor is being donated by District Council 16 and its affiliated unions, including Painters Local 913 & 507, Glaziers Local 718 and Carpet Layers Local 12.

In September of last year workers from Carpet, Linoleum and Soft Tile Workers Local 12 installed new carpeting in the downstairs meeting rooms under the direction of floor layers Apprenticeship Coordinator, Jack Oyhancabal. Instructors Dave Marshall and Steve Gomez supervised the work of the union apprentices. Dave Figueroa, Field Representative for Local 12 said that, “As a union member I believe in giving back to the community. Certain groups in our society have given unions a bad reputation, and it’s important for us to prove them wrong. By their labor, working people have in fact provided a better quality of life for all Americans.”

‘Organized Labor’ visited the Church on Saturday February 11th and talked to James Ruigomez, the President of the Redwood City Painters and Tapers Local 913, who was coordinating the Painting of the church gymnasium. Jim said that the gym was opened up to the homeless as a shelter every day between 10:00 in the evening and 6:00 in the morning. He said that Reverend Amos Brown, the church pastor, had told District Council 16 that he wanted to bring more warmth and elegance to the shelter.

Union painters were hard at work spray painting the ceilings and walls of the huge gymnasium. Ruigomez noted that, “this is a big job and requires 120 gallons of paint in 5 different colors. We are using roll-on applicators and (2) airless spray rigs with air compressors. The Paint is being provided courtesy of Kelly Moore Paint.”

Ruigomez said that on February 15th at 7:00 p.m. the Reverend Brown would hang a banner in the Gym thanking the union volunteers. Jim pointed out that it was important for our union members to give back to the community where we live and work, and to create a more positive view of union activities. “We want to change the public’s awareness of what unions stand for,” he said. D.C. 16 has set up a Volunteer Activist Committee to encourage rank and file members to become active in the community at large. Any rank and file member can submit a community improvement project for review.

I talked briefly to Reverend Brown. He said that there will be a community forum on February 15th with a book signing by American historian, John Hope Franklin, and that Mayor Newsom would also attend. He said that Franklin’s book, “A Mirror to America,” discussed the issue of race in America.

Part of the event will commend the church sponsored after-school tutorial program that the Third Baptist Church and Temple Emanuel have hosted for the last 18 years. Obviously proud of his outreach program, Reverend Brown said that the tutorial program is open to the general community and serves between 150 to 200 students every semester. He said that the church has run the homeless shelter with the help of the Mayor’s Office on Homelessness.

Volunteers

Interview with Tina Staten

I joined the Painters union Local 4 right out of high school with George E. Maskers. I had gone to John O’Connell High where I took classes in painting and decorating. I became a Journeyman Painter working with the San Francisco Housing Authority in 1983. I was born and raised in the Bayview Hunters Point neighborhood and lived in the Westpoint housing project. I still live in the City.

I’m currently working at the new federal building that’s under construction at 7th and Mission Streets doing the accent colors. I’m again working for George E. Maskers as a new member of Painters Local 913. It was sad to see the breakup of San Francisco Painters Local 4. We need a good, strong painter’s local here in the City. I’m a recruiter for Local 913 bringing people into the union.

I volunteered for this job because I want to get more involved in the community. I have five brothers. I like working with the union because of the health and pension benefits. My health provider is Kaiser and I appreciate having a health plan. However, I did get very good treatment at San Francisco General. I’m a delegate to the San Francisco Building and Construction Trades Council and a ‘Member at Large’ of Painters 913.

Interview with Jorge Arturo Garcia

I’ve been a member of the Painters union in Redwood City for 5 years and am now a journeyman. I really enjoy my work- starting work on a new apartment that’s run down and in bad shape and leaving it after the work is done looking perfect.

My parents lived in Guatemala until I was four years old. My mother moved to the U.S. at that point, and we lived in Chicago for a while and then moved to California. I grew up in Redwood City and the East Palo Alto area. The churches and community groups gave me a lot of support and were a big part of my ‘family’. I grew up with a certain amount of street violence. My life was threatened at times. I’m concerned about my younger brother and I’ve been talking to him about getting an education. He’s 19. I’ve told him to go to college and get away from the street life.

I’ve been married for one year and two months to a girl I’ve known since I was 15. My wife Claudia is from El Salvador. She graduated from UCLA where she majored in International Development, and spent some time studying in Brazil. Currently she teaches at Cesar Chavez. We bought a new house on the Peninsula in Redwood City back in 2001.

One of my first painting jobs was at the Westlake Village Apartments. I’m still working there. We do the ongoing maintenance, painting, taping and finishing. It’s regular work on a year round basis. I’ve enjoying doing the painting work on this job painting the gymnasium for the 3rd Baptist Church; and, I’m happy to give back to the community. They helped me a lot when I was growing up. I hope the local community appreciates what the church is doing here under the leadership of Amos C. Brown. The word is ‘spread the love.’

I worry some about the on-the- job exposure to toxins, the paint spray, and the work involved in the removal of lead based paint. Westlake has been a good employer and paid our regular wage rates and class fees so that we could take a course in toxic remediation and learn to protect ourselves. I now have a ‘Lead Related Construction Certificate’ from the California Department of Health Services.