Sheetmetal Workers International Association Local Union 104

Organized Labor

Bo Rosted, Foreman 30 years
I'm second-generation. I can't complain about the trade except for a few little cuts, but no serious injuries. How do you get cut? By not looking. Maybe you're looking up or looking down and you hit something. That's how I got this cut. It hit me right below my hard hat. Doing exposed ductwork is the best part. On other jobs, after you do all the work, they put up the ceiling and no one can see it. When you do exposed work, everyone gets to see the quality of your work. How it was installed, how it looks, and how it performs. You can see how the edges are cut and how it is put together. When it's in the ceiling you don't see that. Once I was at a coffee shop with my son, I pointed to the exposed duct work and said, “That's what I do.” My son's considering the trade, and if he gets in, that will be three generations of sheet metal workers.