Plumbing Apprenticeship
Program, Local 38
Organized Labor
May 2009
Dan McCormick, now over 70 years old, muses about all the changes he has seen since he attended the Local 38 apprenticeship program in the 1950s. He started working at 16, and back then he couldn’t imagine someone drifting from one occupation to another. His father was an Irish immigrant who came to America at 19, during the depression, and worked as an indentured servant to pay off the cost of his ticket. “Everyone in our home worked,” says McCormick. “I remember thinking at the time what a big deal it was for me to get a trade. At that time most of the Irish were laborers and that was pretty much it. My family was so happy that I made it. They were as excited back then as I was when my daughter got into Harvard. She is now a labor lawyer.” His other daughter graduated from Vassar and works for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. His son is another instructor at the program. He is proud that he succeeded in raising them with a strong work ethic and to be pro-union.