Heat and Frost Insulators Joint Apprenticeship Training Committee

Organized Labor

Mike Moorish, Apprentice
I've done this for 10 years and finally got in the union. Working union I get a retirement, I get vacation and medical. Working nonunion, I didn't get anything but my paycheck. And nonunion, if the boss doesn't like you, you're on your own. On a union job, if the boss doesn't like you, you go to the business agent to back you up. I was on a non-union job and the boss asked me to go to church with him. I said, "No, I don't go to church." All the guys on the job went to his church. He fired me. That wouldn't happen on a union job. I love this type of work. One time I did this metal job covering vents on a roof in East Oakland. For years, whenever I drove by, it looked real beautiful. I'd say to myself, I did that job. In the apprentice program they teach you how to do things the right way. After 10 years in the trade, I'm learning stuff I didn't know.