Operating Engineers Local 3 and the Transbay Terminal

Organized Labor

Bob Sparks
You can really get your frustrations out. It's fun when you're younger, but now it's just a job.

Today we're taking the concrete columns down three feet below grade. First we dig out the dirt around them, then we break down the concrete, and then we rake up the debris. It's all about moving material around, and doing it safely.

You learn hands-on. You've got to be careful pulling on stuff because it can come flying back at you. I had a piece of concrete hit me when I was running a crane in Detroit. I just went right back to work after I got out of the hospital.

Back then it was go, go, go. They had just started coming out with excavators. Before that they used backhoes with cables – the Northwest. Now it's all hydraulics. Before you had to work a friction clutch with your legs to move the crane arms around – that was a lot of body movement. The new equipment is a lot easier on you.

Tearing things down in the middle of the city is not as much fun as being in the open. You have to watch out a lot more and be real careful. A lot of people around. The main thing is common sense. A little common sense goes a long ways in this business.

The other day I was running a 9000-pound wrecking bar and hit a column, and a piece of concrete sheared off. And that's a lot of energy coming at you. It just missed me.