Iron Workers Local 377
Organized Labor
Jeff Boyer, Iron Worker Superintendent Local 377
We have been working here since March of last year. It's been a good project, and we're glad to have it. The project is a retrofit, and we're doing everything from seismic upgrades of existing systems to the installation of new steel. It is interesting working on a multi-employer jobsite like this, working with all the other trades, seeing the different activities going on. It takes a lot of coordination. Being a superintendant is about looking ahead. It's about letting other people know what's coming and giving them the opportunity to tell us what's coming. That way we can organize the jobsite to accept the work and not get in each other's way. We have electrical, mechanical, labor, concrete, and demo. A couple of times a week we meet in the office to review what's going on, what needs to happen, when and where. Then you go out there, ready to improvise when things don't happen according to what you planned. There may be late deliveries, unavailability of manpower, whatever. You always need to have a second plan and be ready for all contingencies.
It's a challenge being a superintendent. I've had crews on this job of as many as 51 workers. Then you need to assign foremen to direct the different activities and keep the work going in the right direction. You have to make sure they have all the equipment, tools, and materials to do the job safely and efficiently.
Safety is one of our biggest concerns. The procedures have been changing the whole 30 years of my career, and it will be changing for the superintendants who do this job for the next 30 years. These days everything is more stringent: fall protection, site policies, and industrial policies. We have lot more watch dogs on us checking work practices. It used to be fall protection only at 30 feet or higher, and then it was only one point protection. Now it is a double tie-off with two hooks on anything over 6 feet when you go around objects. The result is a decrease in workmen's comp claims, and most important, more people going home safely at the end of the day. That is what it's about: workers going home in one piece with the income to support their families, and then getting the work done.