Organized Labor

Madison Hull

I love the job. Everything is new, nothing is repetitive. Every day there are multiple problems to solve. You have to improvise a lot, and you have a whole building of spare parts to use.

On this job the windows are part of a unified system that came pre-built. The problem was they were racked. They slanted the wrong way, and we couldn't take them apart. So we had to create shims.

Today, I'm working on the punch list. We just walk through the job figuring out what went wrong and how to fix it.

The main tool I use is my head. Looking back at the end of the day, you realize there were no problems, only solutions. I used to work in the corporate world in human resources. I like the union environment a lot better.

Paul Pieretti

When I drive down Highway 101, I can pick out all the buildings I've worked on. That's a sense of accomplishment. This is one of the largest buildings I've worked on, 64 stories. We're attaching the sill metal, and then we will start on the store fronts below. I did a lot of custom work on houses, but I prefer big buildings because of all the challenges. You never feel static. One time I did a building up in Sacramento, and I got to do the signals for the crane bringing in the glass panels. That was fun. Another time I helped a friend who was repairing a 90-year-old sky light at Berkeley's Le Conte Hall. It was his job, I can't take credit for it, but I helped him out.

Tim Rodriguez

It's pretty cool hanging out of a 20-story window. I did some rock climbing in Costa Rica, but here we get to use all the latest safety equipment and training. They really put safety first. You feel confident, but it's still challenging. I used to work at a night club. That was fun and interesting, but there was no one to advocate for the people working there. They could make you work whenever they wanted, without any respect for your time. When you are in a union, you have other guys standing behind you. My grandfather was a carpenter, and I saw how the union took care of him. He's retired now and lives a pretty good life. So I looked at the pension plans, and the glaziers had the best.

Also, it's a pretty universal skill. People always need glass windows. I can help my family putting in their windows or changing them out, and when I get a house I can do mine. We have a volunteer activist committee of the District Council. We help people in low-income neighborhoods work on their houses. We also go precinct walking, attend assembly meetings, and go on peace marches. After you volunteer three times, they give you a sweatshirt with a big "Glaziers 718" emblem. That's cool.

Alex Miranda

Every day is new and involves something different. I've worked on the ballpark, the Asian Arts Museum, the GAP, and all kinds of condos. This is one of the largest projects. It's over 60 stories, and that means years of steady work.One of the great things about being a glazier is that we work inside the building, so we get to work every day, year around. That's good for me and for my family. There've been times when I was out of work for a month, and that was hard.

After high school, I took a lot of different classes at junior college and wasn't getting anywhere. Then a friend of mine told me about glazing. You can go through the training program, and then you graduate as an apprentice and you can join the union. What I like best is finishing work, getting everything square and plumb, with no gaps. I take a lot of pride in my work. I love looking at something and saying, "I did that," and then showing my kids and grandkids and hearing them say, "My grandfather did that."

Matt McArthur

When you first walk up to the job, the building is surrounded by scaffolding, and you can't even tell what it is. When it's all done, you just stand back and admire what all the work produced. On some jobs you have to fabricate everything right there in the field. With the new building designs, you have to cut some tricky angles and corner rounds, pretty fancy stuff. On other jobs, everything comes prefab. I like the prefab, because I can concentrate on other things and not have to worry about getting cut up as much. I like putting on my little sprinkles, finishing it up and making it look good.

It's all about teamwork. It's a lot like a team sport. You argue with your other team members on how to get it done, but then at the end of the day, it's all good.

Adrian Pereira

I love everything about it, from the brotherhood of the union to working in the trade. Before glazing I drove a fork lift. My brother-in-law was a glazier, and he introduced me to the trade. I was fascinated from the minute I started. There is something about working with glass. I like the look of it, the feel of it, and the shine of it. There are so many types of glass: annealed, tempered, fire glass. They all look different and are different to work with. I like the way you can look through a properly installed clear piece of glass and see a beautiful view. I've worked at the federal building, at Highland Hospital, and I can go on and on. They are doing so many different things with glass and mirrors. You can see whole buildings that look like they are built all out of glass. Glass is what holds the building together and makes it stand out. Sometimes I go back after we're done just to take some pictures.

The union has made a big difference for me, from the training programs for advancement to situations on the job. Even when I've been out of work, all it took was a phone call to the union, and they took care of it. They've helped me, and that's why I try to give something back whenever I can, from participating at meetings to precinct walking and voting.