Abe (Lalo) Rodriguez, 26 year elevator mechanic (right) working

Abe (Lalo) Rodriguez. Elevator Mechanic,  26 years

I’ve worked on elevators from every company except Mitsubishi. They are all different and all the same. Just like a Chevy or a Ford, the parts look the same, but they are each a little different. I started in Houston, Texas, then 15 years in LA, and 8 years up here. I was going to college and was told I could get work in Houston in elevators. I thought I would be pushing the buttons, like an elevator operator, and would do it for a year and make some money and go back to college. But the money got better and better, and this is what I like to do. We work with our hands, do piping and welding, rigging, all the trades in one. It’s fun. All the co-workers try to help each other.  And all the jobs are different. Even if it’s the same elevator, the building is different, the way the general does the work. Some have no idea what we need. Even though we ask them, sometimes the hoistways are too big or too small, and we have to cut and readjust to make it work, elongate the rail brackets, install spacers for the car seals. You have to fabricate right on the job site to make it work.