Operating Engineers Local 3 and the Transbay Terminal

Organized Labor

Todd Shebesta, Construction Inspector
Today I'm inspecting soil compaction to make sure they bring it back to 95% of what it was before so it will support the new structures. We just have a little bit to go. I do concrete testing and re-bar testing and a little bit of welding inspection.

We document everything, so the city inspectors can check through our reports and make sure the project was constructed correctly.

It is good that a big project like this is union. A lot of these nonunion testing companies don't pay their employees correctly. I started out working non-union, and one of those non-union companies I worked for still owes me money. When you're not in a union you have no recourse. I tried to file a complaint with the state for back wages, but it's a lot of red tape, and the state doesn't have the manpower to process the claims.

All job sites are pretty dangerous, but the nonunion companies only care about money. I've been on sites where people weren't even wearing hard hats or safety vests. I've seen cranes tip over, and electrocutions. A crane got too close to a high wire. It wasn't even touching it and it arced. The crane operator wasn't killed, but he was shook up.