IS THIS WHAT YOU EXPECTED?

We had the great opportunity to speak with a good hand and even better brother Ironworker Gino is a great conversation we had we enjoyed this episode and thanks for listening. and getting this 

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STAY SAFE WORK HARD AND LIVE WELL.

Transcript

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welcome back Iron Worker Podcast. We have a good guest with us today. It's gonna be a great visit. Listen and this kind of bullshit session with our with Gino Swagger. His brother was on a few episodes ago and. Gino felt jealous that we were not exploring his creativity as well. So we figured we'd get him on and mess with him a little bit. So we're glad to have you Gino. Thanks for having me. Kev, you wanna start us off, buddy? Yeah. Gino. Gino the man. How you doing, buddy? Good. How are you bro? I'm still kicking around. I'm doing all right. Why don't looking good. Get into Thank you. I feel good. Feel good. Why don't we get into your basic early life. What was you doing before Iron work? Hey, wasn't any good. I worked for my pops for quite a few years doing underground running equipment land pipe. Me and my brother both, it was. dad, a hard working man. He was superintendent for a long time. He owned his own business for a long time. And me and my brother, we were free labor, on the weekends. Yeah, we dig digging ditches, shoveling and just ditch diggers. I did asphalt for about eight years when I was a teenager. Cause I was a young father, so I had to work and go to school and do all that stuff. But yeah kind of jack of all trades master at none. When did you have your first kid at? 16 years old. Oh, damn. Yep. She's 27 right now. Is that what you were meaning by Land Piper? I guess so funny story is I just found out I have a fourth kid a month ago. Oh no shit. Yeah. What happened there 20 years ago. That's what happened there. We all know how the life was, and we all know how me and my brother ran a monk. Yeah. I went on a trip to Arizona and I have a 21 year old kid down there right now. She'll be 21 in April. Wow. I'm waiting for one of those to pop up for me. I used to say, people ask you how many kids you got, say three that I know of, I won't ever say that again. Now you gotta say four that you know of. I'm just gonna say four. I'm not gonna put it out there to the universe that there might be another one running around somewhere. Yeah, that's right. A good idea. The song advice. Yeah. Remember that fellas? So how did you transition into, working for your dad on the weekend soon, asphalt, all of that stuff. What what pointed you into an actual career that you was gonna have your whole life? I was about to do, I did, I got in some trouble. And so my brother was an iron worker for a year already. I didn't even know there was a union. I was welding trailer hitches and stuff like that. Like I said, I was working two jobs and welding trailer hitches on mobile homes so they could get hauled out and or hauled in whatever. And. I like any other time, went to the bar and stayed there a little too late, got some ideas in my head, went over to somebody's house, kicked in the door got in some trouble. I'll just leave it at that. I'm not gonna get too far into that one. But So I was gonna do like a day, under a year cause they wanted to keep me in lockup cause I beat up a couple of the cops and an ambulance driver. They would pay me a visit every once in a while and kicked the shit outta me and all of a sudden I hear this swaggart roll it up. I was like, he's got stupid bastards. Can't even count. I've only been here like 90 days. I go to get out and there's this great man and my brother standing out there, and my brother's standing there to get me out. And or he was standing there with this guy and this guy looked like an old mob boss. His name is Max Price, my hero, right? And so they pay, he paid the restitution and all this stuff for me. And he told me, he said, so I hear you're a rat. And I said, I don't know what you're talking about. I don't snitch on anybody. And he said, oh, you're a non-union iron worker. And I looked at him square in the eyes, just clueless. I said, there's a union. And he said, yeah. So I got outta lockup on a Friday, and I was decking for John Burkhart on Monday, branding. And John, would you rather been in lockup or decking for John Biard? Hey, you know me bucket. You've thrown a lot of sheets with me, man. I have no problem throwing some deck, dude. I know. I'll I'll take shoveling shit over lockup buddy. Send me back to digging bitches. Hey, at least I got practice There you go. That is true. So where did you spend most of your time as a, in that apprenticeship? Was it all in Vegas or No I started in Vegas. I was there two years in, it's like anybody else gotta get the hell out of Vegas. Yeah, I ended up down in local 75 down in Phoenix, Arizona. I was down there for, I don't know, 10, 10 years. I finished my apprenticeship down there. I actually had to do they were a mixed local, so I had to do rods and everything else too. So I was down there for quite a while And I was an instructor down there at their school for a bit, about two years, three years, almost three years. They had to have been, they had to have been pretty hard up, I assume. It's funny they, I went, I, the one union meeting I missed cause I was out, I was with my kids. They they voted on it in the meeting and I missed it. Who to make me a, an instructor. And the guy down there, Danny Wood, he he backed me. And the. The coordinator at the time, I'd known him for quite some time. Cause when I transferred in, if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have, I wouldn't have been able to do the transfer. I'd had to start this, the whole thing over. So it was fun. It was fun. It was something I learned, I think I learned more than I taught doing it, to tell you the truth. So it ends up going that way. As an instructor, you end up finding out how much stuff you really didn't know, and then you start reading more into it and helping yourself grow. I always tell the, when I was teaching as an instructor, I'd always tell those apprentices, man I'm learning just as much as you guys are. So don't sit here and try and think that, I think I know more than you are. I'm better than you. Cause I'm learning just as much as you guys. Yeah, they don't, and the thing of it is it's not, I'm not any, and I'll never claim to be the best. There's always somebody out there better, they. All the kids and all the iron workers in there, I call'em kids. Hell, some of'em are older than I am. But but I tell all of'em, I learned just as much from them and their interest is what really intrigues you as an instructor to me. Their interest in being an iron worker, knowing what an iron worker is, knowing what they're about to en encounter and to see the look on their faces when they're just like, this is gonna be badass. And it's not. That's where the point that I say it all the time, I'm sure buckets heard me say it. It's, everybody wants to be an iron ironworker until it's time to do ironworker shit. And that's how it is. And then when they see that, those the videos and all the safety stuff that you're showing and you can see, you can almost handpick who's gonna make it. You can almost handpick it because then you have these. Gungho kids, they're like, oh, I just want to connect. I just want to, I'm a cowboy. I just want to connect. And you see all these other guys that are like, ah, it's man, I really, I've always wanted to learn how to weld. I've just wanted to do this. And you can see some of'em have just straight fear in their face, and it's it was a great feeling to, to be in there with them. Like I said, cuz you learn, hell, I I got in, I was scared of death of heights. Scared of death. He said, you have to walk across that beam. I looked at him and said, you're fucking stupid. Why in the fuck would I do that? John Burkhart looked at me and he goes, you gotta walk across there and go get that thought. I said, no I don't, He said, that's what you signed up for. And I said, Fuck. So I walked across it, knee's shaking the entire time my brother was down on the ground hooking on at the time. And once I made it across there that one time, it was like, that rush comes across you. Like you just went down the rollercoaster and there was like, I, it's a feeling you could never replace in me. I love that feeling. That's why we wouldn't do what we do. You're about that much outta control, but scared for your life at the same time. It's an amazing feeling to feel every day. There ain't nothing like it. That's can't tell you. Like I said, just talking about, I'm getting the hands. So how come you didn't follow your brother? 2 27 when Robert came up here? Why'd you choose to go to 75? Cause I assume you guys kinda left around the same time from Vegas, right? No. No, we did not. I stayed down there, like I said, cause I had my kids. Yeah. My father was down there. My sister's down there. I just planted roots down there for a while with the kids and everything. And I knew he went up there. I didn't know that he had transferred in. I thought he was still 4 33 for years. And we didn't talk for some time when he was running muck. And I wa I moved, I had moved back to Las Vegas with my kids. and was looking for work and I talked to a buddy of mine and I was headed up to 7 32. I was headed up to Montana to go to work at by Anaconda. And my brother called me. I was it was like the weekend I was leaving and my brother called me and said, I heard you were going to Montana. I said, yeah, I was gonna stop by and see on my way through. And he said, why don't you just come up here, come to work for us. There's a new company out here. Let's come up here and be a general foreman or a foreman instead of, I said that's halfway closer to Las Vegas, so that's what I'll do. So I called my buddy and I said, Hey, I'll take a rain check on that job and I'm gonna go work with my brother for a little bit. And I met Kevin Poor guy and your whole life has changed for the worst. Oh, it definitely changed up to you. Good guys. Yeah, thanks. Matter of fact, it was right bef it wasn't too soon after that I had to go to work for you. Old bucket. That's true. That's when your life was changed for the better. That's when he was second probably working for, again I can't tell you if it's any better or any worse cuz it is just life. Bye-bye. That's true. So how many different locals have you worked out of though? 75 4 33 27. 7 32. I've only belonged to three, but I've worked out of 15 different locals. Shit. Ping pong. I worked out 8 0 8 2 72 75 180 1. 4 33 3 77, 3 78 25 27, 4 96 7 32 86 19, and 1 18 1 2 Second mile. Yeah. Bernita you, that's still on the bucket list that you wanted to work out of? When I was younger, who didn't want to go to Local 40, the land of Milk and honey. But, I've been in California for the last few years and you can have it. I'm good. It's too many freaking people. I don't like it here. I can't wait to leave. Is that your least favorite place to work? Because it's so crowded? Yeah, and I'm not gonna talk bad about nobody, but just. It's the people, it's not the state. It's a beautiful state. The we working weather. Jesus. You can't ask for better working weather, it never rains. Jesus, I think the coldest it's been is 58. I look it I'm all bundled up right now and it's 55 degrees outside and the sun's shining. So it's like I said, on that aspect, it's great. It's just I'm not, like I said, I'm not gonna talk bad, but it's you get pre Madonna's and I'm just gonna leave it at that. There's just, everybody's better than everybody out here. And then, it's not a brotherhood as much as you would like it to be. Where do you think your favorite, as far as the brotherhood, where do you think that's the strong. I believe 27 through and through so well, 7 32 is great. I'll never down them. They're all, they're good old boys, man from 27 up as far as I'm concerned. They're all good old boys. He down 75 wasn't too bad. But again, you get that I'm better than you mentality with through all the workers. And it's you get 27, you can go up there and I know we have our hands that like to do one thing, but I could say one, one thing out of the bunch is that there's more JWS acting J iws in the northern areas than there are in the southern areas. So you got a guy that'll go, he'll go plum up, he'll go weld. They'll be a connector that has all of his welding certs. And that is actually worth a shit welder. Most of'em, not chicken scratch shit neither Kevin. That's right. Kevin just flipp me the bird cuz he knew some smart ass comment was coming as soon as said He didn't need to. I said it That's funny. But it's like I said, you got those, you have those guys that they'll, they're there to make a paycheck, they're there to do the job, and no matter what the job is, cuz there's all of those jobs that we don't, there's that one job everybody has. They don't like mine personally is plum up. I freaking hate it, but I'm good at it and I'll do it now so I don't have to do it for two months. I'll do it two weeks if I have to, just so I can get done with it and not have to worry about it anymore. And you got those guys that just drag their feet, I don't want to do this, and then, oh, I'm sick. I need to go home. Or, oh, my wife called I my kid's sick. Or, it's, y'all know what I'm talking about. It's just one of those things and it's horrible. I'm, you go up there and that guy said, Hey, you're gonna pull you. Your boss says, Hey, I'm, you're gonna plum up. Where's my equipment? Where's my theo light? Where's my tools? That's it. It's great. You've got some that'll drag their feet, but more or less, those guys want to get the job done just as bad as you do. Oh, you run into a lot of, everybody just wants to work. Sorry, No, you're good Kevin. Go ahead buddy. I was just gonna say it's you, it's amazing how many JWS and stuff like that. I Just iron workers in general. You'd run into that. Don't even know what a FID light is. you said get me aite. It's like you get a lot of them that don't even know what that is. Yeah. Yeah. They're like we're what's that? Go get me a plate. Stretcher, kid. The theto light's the one that bounces off everything. If you let it they don't already check. Use it to check. You can use it to check grid and check plumbing columns. You can use it for all kinds of stuff. You got your transit that'll, you can just check elevation. The aite theo Light you can use for checking that also and checking grid lines and checking plum and all that stuff with it. You can do all kinds of stuff with it. Surveyors use it for a bunch of stuff. I just meant it's one of those things you check off the side of the building and it bounces off everything when it goes down. That's why I said if you let it Yeah. Yeah. I think it's the most frustrating piece of equipment here. I'm going too far with it. No, this this always takes the scientific route. I take the long route. My question, you're sitting there saying, you had a hard time with a transit. And I saw you have a hard time with a hilty gun. tell you what, he doesn't have a hard time with sandwiches. I'll tell you what Kevin doesn't have a hard time with now, but that's neither here nor there. Actually it is here. back to the topic. You jackasses get quick getting off joke off topic here. No. So what have been some of the differences you've seen good and bad out of these other locals? I You said what 15 locals you've worked out of? Yes, sir. Okay. Excluding 7 32 and 27. What are the worst, I'm just kidding. What are some of the good and bad things you've seen throughout those, throughout your time in each one of these locals? The, it's all being good bucket. I mean it's all, I learned it, I learned at every one of'em that, I'll say this over on the eastern side, they don't have what we have. They don't, their collective bargaining is just different. They they don't have an annuity over there. Local 2 72 and 8 0 8, they do not have annuity. They don't get vacation checks. They don't get all that. Their pay is really low for hourly locals Miami and Orlando area, Florida. California area I'm trying to get out of Arizona. I'd go back. There's a lot of really good guys down there. I know. And I'll, I'm gonna be back home 27 before you know it. But I've enjoyed traveling and learning all these things cuz and I'll tell you this terminology from across this nation is insanely different, right? Yeah. Explain a hilty gun. in Florida is pow Shut up. Oh, it's not. That's what they call it. Fuck I wouldn't shit you, you're my favorite. Turd. Pow. They said that they A Dex saw. Yeah. Is a dex saw. Just get me the, oh, what the half of'em don't speak English? They just say get me the cutter. The cutter. Oh, they're gonna call the room I wouldn't doubt it. That's where I showed you that video of that kid trying to push start that saw. Is that where that was That's where that was. What's the weirdest thing you'd ever heard? A pair of cowboys called? Oh God. Pinchers. I heard'em called grip grips when I was down in working at a local 58. I think it says grip. Grip on the side of those though, doesn't it? A grip? That's right. Yeah. If it's a grip brand or it'll just say grip. I've heard'em called skin grips before. Yep. Skin grips. They, that, that's what they call'em down in Arizona. Yeah, in Vegas too. It's what my old mine calls em. Huh. Then I got in here at 27. They're like gimme cowboys. I was like, I was one of those apprentices a little bit more sharper than some, I think. Oh yeah. Not in the, and I don't mean that in like the way Kevin usually says it. Yeah. Don't fool yourself there. But I just mean I didn't fall for the stupid tricks. Go find me the sky hook and don't go. You know what I mean? Don't do these stupid. I got stink. I'd sit back and think that doesn't exist before. And then when they said cowboys, I was like, that doesn't exist. Cause I grew up knowing'em as a skin grip, not as a cowboy. And I was like, second best decision. I think I was, my first, when I wasn't decking my first job, I was going to bolt up. And a guy said to go get him a plate stretcher. And I was bound and determined I was that apprentice. I'm gonna find it. I don't know what the fuck it is, but I'm gonna find it. And I'm down there around the conexes for three hours just looking at stuff, seeing if it was gonna, is this gonna come out at me? And then I was, the superintendent saw me down there, dicking around for three hours and I heard the get, what the fuck are you doing? And I said, I'm looking for a play. Get the fuck back up. There're screaming at me And I got back up on the iron. Those guys were all laughing their ass off. And I was like, right on. I see how this is gonna roll now. I think my brother was one of them. Probably love that guy. Oh, bringing stories like that up. What's one of your, when you think about stories that your apprenticeship and shit like that, the shit people did to you or jokes they played on you or anything like that what's the best one that comes to mind, or one that you've done to somebody else, oh, you were there for it. We had that kid. We had that kid over there when we were down there by Thanksgiving point, that would not wear his tool belt, would not wear it. And I remember I made it my, it was my new challenge. I, he, if he's either gonna, I even went and got him a new harness and everything, so everything would fit on his belt. I even helped him set it up. I had faith in him at first. And then I go up the stairs and I see Alee bar laying in the low of the deck. And I see a spud wrench laying over there, and I see this stuff laying over there. And so I after that, all right, I'm gonna get him to wear it. I'm gonna, it's now my new mission in life is to make this kid do what every other iron worker in their career has done and wear a belt. So I said, why don't you wear your belt? He goes it hurts my hips. What? It hurts my hips too heavy. I was starting to lose interest in, right as soon as I heard that. And then I asked him, Hey, where I need a tape measure? He'd run across the building to where his tape measure was and he'd bring it to me and I said, don't worry, I already got one. So he'd go put it back, and then a couple minutes later say, Hey, go get me. Go get me a seven eights. And he'd run across the building. He'd go grab that seven eights, he'd run back. Don't worry, I already got one. So I did that about half the day. About every five minutes I was asking him for something else, and he'd run over and get it, and he'd bring it back and I already got it. I didn't even, I was just running outta shit to ask for it, to tell you the truth. And he asked, he says, I, he says, you screwing with me? And I says if you had your belt on, you wouldn't have to run so much. And he just looked at it. He just walked off and he says, this guy's a dick. And pretty sound judgment. Yeah. Yeah. I won't deny it. I was born when it just grew bigger, bud So I go up these stairs and I see that sleep bar again, and I was like, I've had fucking had this shit. And I welded his spud wrench to fucking call him. And then I stuck his clee bar through his safety post hole and I welded it on the backside. Then I stuck his other ranch and I welded it to the top of that and I hung his belt on it. And so he come up the stairs, he was gonna see his tools. He didn't have hangar, so he had to cut the end off the bar to get it out of the hole and anything else. And I remember everybody was said, don't, did you really have to do that? I said, you know what? He's a fucking waste of skin. And I don't even want him here. I hope he quits. So it was my mission after that to get him to quit. He did. He did. And he became a safety man. Yeah. I know who it's now. Get the fuck outta here. Swear to God. So it's tough. You got these guys out there that, that want to do the work. They wanna learn it all. They want to know it all. And then you got those guys, those just, they'll, they're just there. They're a body count. And it's not the way, no. How do you think we, we could police that, I guess as these guys are coming up through the apprenticeship, we was talking earlier about how you can tell these guys that are gonna make it and the guys that aren't, and that fear that they have. What do you think we could do to try to police it? In my honest opinion, it starts when we sign'em up, we see what their interest is. We have to peak that interest, right? And it's all us, we find what we like and then that's what we wanna know about. We need to, and it's us as a whole. We need to find out what interests this kid. If he just wants to be a connector, great. Go be a. You want a bolt up? Go be a bolt up him. You wanna be a j i w You want to learn how to weld, you want, we need to find out, we need to invest ourselves into them as much as they invest what they think they want to do. And it's easy. It's easy to say that kid don't, all he wants to do is connect. I don't know, peak his interest. Teach him how to weld. Make him literally learn the trade. Make him learn the trade. He might find something else in this trade that he's, it, everybody's built different, it, I've met quite a few guys across the pond or across the nation over there. They just, they want to know it all. And you've got these kids, there's this kid out here he's, he was supposed to do a life sentence and he got out and this is like his second chance. And this kid's. God everything you tell him, you just see his eyes. You can see it in his face. He just wants to know all of them. And it's, it sucks cuz you want to teach him all of it and you wanna see him succeed. Our problem is when we teach these kids, we teach'em the fundamentals. We don't, when it's, when we're in the weld shop and oh that, that doesn't look good. We have these, we, I'm not saying our instructors, but there are instructors out there that they say, okay, that doesn't look good. Go do it again. You don't go in there, show'em the form, show'em what they need to learn to do it. They could probably learn it. And now, or if you take, if we have the patience to go in there now, I know I was one, an instructor has. 20 kids in there, 2020 apprentices in there that you're trying to teach at the same time. And it's overwhelming as hell, but you gotta try to find, we need to find more time for these kids. And that's my honest opinion. I know I just said a lot to say that, but that's what it is. You did way better than Buck usually does. So you're all right. I figured somebody was gonna say some jackass comment. Thanks last. Appreciate that man. I know that like when I'm teaching like you said, you've got 20 students at a time. Especially if you're in a welding shop and if you're the only instructor for all those students, like you said, it is hard, but it really isn't by the end of the day or by the end of the week to get some time with each one of those apprentices and figure out what they're struggling with. and then try and figure out how to get in their head, how to overcome it. Cause every student, every apprentice learns different. I learned different than the ones that were in the same class as me. I was advanced on some things that they were where real slow at, but then I was real slow at things they were advanced at. Everybody learns different and all it takes is spending some time with someone if they show the initiative to learn, give them the initiative to teach, yeah. Give'em the information. We all know a technique and it's different for everyone. How you stand, how you hold it, how you do this, how you do that. And I'll say from my experience, when I was an apprentice I was trying to get my light gauge shirts and I went in there every goddamn day after work for a week. And that guy, I'd bring him the coupons and he'd look at it. He goes, not good. What do I gotta do different? Just do it again. And I went in there and I went and did it again. And this one looked different. I'm looking at it and I said it looks good to me. And I take it back to him. Go do it again. Do any suggestions. Yeah, do it again. That's my suggestion. I go do it again. And I'd hour and I'm sitting and I don't get defeated, but I'll tell you this, I've never taken that long to learn something in my life, I thought, and I kept doing it. And I kept doing it. I kept doing it. And I had a, I called my buddy and I said, Hey, and he'd been doing it and he had his search, whatever. And I said, can you come down here with me? I'll buy you beer or something, show me what the fuck am I'm doing wrong? Cuz he goes, ask the instructor. I said, I asked him every damn day. and the guy who sat in there, and I don't know, he was smoking his cigar and doing his thing out in the other end of the shop I couldn't figure it out apparently. And while I did it, and he looked at it and he goes, I don't see anything wrong with that. And I took it over there to that guy and he says, do it again. And my buddy went over and he was j i w He goes over there and he laid into this guy and he says, that's better than any of the ones I put out. And he gave me mine. And I left that day with my welts, my light gauge shirts. He finally actually put a chisel to it to try to break it apart. And he gave me my light gauge shirts. And I thought it was, I don't know if it. I don't, did I date his daughter in high school? I don't know what the problem was. I just didn't know. Maybe it was just the look on my face. I have that effect on some people. Heather, he didn't wanna do the paperwork. It was something, like I said, that guy, he sat out there just smoking cigars most of the day. Anyway, he was, it was one of those instructors you wish was never an instructor. And I don't know I feel even in the field to the, to this day, if I see somebody struggling with something, I go help if I know anything about it. And I think that's why I like this brotherhood. Cause that happened to me more times than I could say that there's a guy over here that's better than me at something and he's gonna come over and help me out, make me faster, make me more efficient. That's what I love about it. I've taught Bucket his whole way. Except for what I saw you, I learned from your dad. I learned from your dad better than you did That's very true. All my dad ever did one. All my dad ever wanted do was just yell at me and tell me I was a dumb decker. He told me that too. Time or two Let's, I wanna talk about this for a second. I think this is interesting, the complacency that kind of comes from that guy that was out in that shop, he just straight up didn't want to do, he didn't want to be there. It sounds and I think that's a, what's the word? Like a huge disadvantage for those kids, how, imagine, you're a pretty strong little guy, Gino. And to have, but not everybody's like that. Ev you're not, everybody's there to, Go in there with a hard, thick skull, like the most, the majority of us have, and say, oh, I'm gonna get this and you're not gonna tell me I'm not to. But a lot of the kids nowadays I think will just say hell it, I don't need my light it, sir. I don't need that. I don't need that pot of weld cert. I don't need that one G, 3g, 12 G, whatever the hell the Gs I don't know any of that shit. Les is he's a cwi. He'll tell you all that in the comments later, but But what a disadvantage of that, least for some of those kids that are there, they wanna learn, and I get it. Like I, I see it in, and the few locals that I've worked out of as well they're, I know they're probably overworked and overwhelmed and as an organizer, I see how the stress can get to you and stuff, but at the same time, I feel like. It's your responsibility. That's why you've been put in that position is to, and if you feel like you're getting complacent, then you know the door's right there take that door and it's not, I don't know. Do you guys feel like there's complacency in a lot of the shit that you guys see? I definitely think so. I think so. The heck I've seen it in myself where when I was still teaching all, all the time. I used to teach during the winter months and then be the organizer during the summer months and I'd find myself where I'd get complacent, complacent as hell. And then forget to completely, I'll be in the middle of teaching class and I'll be thinking, what the hell? Why isn't this stuff ready? And then I'll be thinking in my head, that's your dumbs. Didn't get it ready. You decided to go do something else, than, organizing. When I'm doing that part of the job, there's times where I gotta really kick my own self in the ass to get motivated to do something cuz nobody else is gonna do it for you. You've gotta do it for yourself. When you're in a spot like that, if your boss is pushing you to do it, sometimes maybe you gotta really stand back and look and be like, holy shit, why are they having to kick me in the ass to get going? Yeah. I think that's the, that's probably, let's see, how the fuck do I wanna word this? In the field when you're working, you usually always have a partner or somebody with you that's pushing in. You're constantly racing against, whether you're decking or welding, you're fucking hanging iron, whatever it is. There's usually other people on that job that you're fucking working at. Not against, but you're racing against them. You know what I mean? When you're an instructor or an organizer or in the office, that kind of thing. do you lose that a little bit because there's not, like who do you compete against now? Bucket? Is it other organizers or is it just more yourself? Yeah, that's a good question because I got, I feel like I, I chat a lot with less about stuff that, the stresses that I'm seeing, but as far as the motivation, you get up every morning and go to work, I, it definitely depends on you. And I think that's what, that's the problem is I think once you've spent so many years doing it, is you lose that dive. like you said, in the field you have somebody that you're competing against, and I compete against Les, he's killing it up there in 7 32, and then there's me. It's I'm I have my own struggles in my area and trying to get through those, but, there's, it's a healthy competition, but at the same time, I feel. The longer it goes on, the more complacent I think you could get. I'm a lot like Gino. My, my mindset is I'm not gonna get defeated. Like I, I'm gonna get up and go do this, and if I have to hit my head against a hundred walls to finally find that 101 wall, I'm gonna do it. So I think the personality too, maybe. Answer your question. It takes the feeling, I think it takes a feeling of feeling defeated. I guess depending on the person. When you feel defeated is when you're like what am I doing wrong? And you try to, you question yourself. And that's where the defeat comes in. When you start questioning yourself. Why this, why that, whatever it is it's either sit down and take the ass beaten or get up and figure out what you could do different. You know what I mean? It's. it's the, what we've worked, taught our whole lives. It's either, either walk away again, like you said earlier, you can either walk away from it and feel defeated for a long time, or you can turn it around even though you're not aware of how you can turn it around at this time, but you can't. Yeah. One way or another, you can. That's what I try to, that's what I try to instill in anybody else's, no matter what we, what there is in front of me, I'm gonna figure it out. And and I've known you for a long time bucket and you've always been that guy. You've figure it out. Problem is, now we just gotta find out what the avenue is, right? that's where we gotta look, right? What can I do different to be better at my job? We can't find that enough anymore. That's what's the hard, that's what's the hardest part of our union. Our union's not growing as big and strong as we would love them to, is that we have to figure out another avenue that doesn't involve, we walk around the corner and see somebody on their phone because the phone, the cell phone is killing it's killing us. It's killing everyone. It's not just us. What we find is it's easier to promote or whatever. Most people are trying to find how many likes they can get on fricking post. And when we can be using this for an information purposes instead of just social likes. Yeah. I totally. Like me, Oh no, I How do you think we changed that mindset of complacency though? Cause it's in every, I would assume it's in every, there's everywhere aspect of it. In every local, every, and not just here in the States, but I imagine in Canada as well. And also, across the pond and, the other countries that have unions. I imagine it's a place to see how do we detour that from our leadership though? Cause, it's one thing in the field as a boss, oh, excuse me, as a boss, if you're complacent on the job, you're gonna get shit canned. It's that simple, but there's a process or her, yeah, or her. Yeah. Exactly. Or hurt. You get into these these roles like, an instructor or business agent, business manager, organizer, or even you go up through the ranks of the international, there's complacency. I believe in every aspect. And how do we change that? Where's the checks and balances that goes into that? You know what I mean? You know how we change it with positivity, brother? Yeah. Positivity and stay involved, right? If you're as tough as all of our jobs are, right? You guys face things that I don't think I could tolerate at this point in my life. You guys have to listen to every swinging dick's sad story of why they can't. I can't do this, I can't do this. This guy's, this guy doesn't like me. It's just your kid's going to school and getting in trouble at school. This teacher don't like me. He's got it out for me. Do your job. That's what we tell our kids, right? Just do the right thing. And I'm not saying be everybody's father, but at the same time, we, all we can do is steer'em in the right direction, right? If, yeah. At whatever cost, there's that defeat again. So you feel like you failed somebody that means you didn't do all you can do. There's some guy, there's some guys out here I've known for a very long time when I first got in, I worked with, and and I see him now. I think one of'em, one of them's an impact guy and one of the other guys, they just made him b a. For a, there's a lot of bas out here. There's a lot of bas out here. I didn't know that there was one for each freaking city, just about, it they throw this the guy that got turned into ba, like I said, I'm gonna say names, but he I don't even know what he was good at. I worked with him for a year and I don't even know what he was good at. I I tried to gun him six times and I don't know what he was good at and they wouldn't let me. And then all of a sudden he just drug up cuz they were making him ba that next weekend. Like I said, I should have made him a safety guy. It's hard when you see that kind of shit happen though, and it happens, there's fellows that get promoted up into foreman positions and things like that, honestly shouldn't probably be in leadership positions. Not saying that they're not good at something, but as far as being a leader and being the one that's lining out the back crew for that task, they're probably not the best, best fit for it. And yet you guys, some somehow end up in those positions. That's, so that's where the cancer comes from, Kevin. Like I said, this is my opinion. The cancer comes from that because then you got this guy that's totally working for this cat now that would be a better fit, that knows the job inside and now. That because he doesn't have a certain relationship with the guy that's up here that this guy does. So this guy's the foreman. He doesn't know the job, but you got this guy who's completely capable of doing the job inside and out. Maybe he's a little bit more salty, like bucket's. Dad was just salty all the time. But the guy knew the job. And I'll say one thing about Whitey is Whitey was, he had no problem going over. He might yell at you the entire time. He's getting his hands dirty, showing you how to do it, but he does it right. And that's the thing, it's, you got this guy over here, he might be a little bit more salty. They're not gonna give him the job. This guy over here is not gonna give him that job because he's salty. But this guy over here is his friend at the bar last night and he's got the job. Yeah. And it sucks. It's the way of the world, and there's nothing, we can sit and turn heads all day long, but we're not gonna fix that problem because Mike, my opinion's the best opinion, and that's the problem. We don't, bucket has come to me a time or two asking me if I thought I sh he should get somebody's money, or if I thought that he was if it was jumping the gun to gun, somebody was my own brother-in-law. Yeah, it was. at that point, and we were right by doing this, he, Hey, but that's what I'm getting at it. He stood, it didn't matter if it was his brother-in-law, I'm not holding onto you because you're my brother-in-law. If you're not gonna do it, I'll find somebody else who can. And that's, we have a hall full of guys that can that's how we weed him out. That's the only way I think we can weed him out. Is that right? Are you really bummed out about it or what? I haven't lost any sleepover, if that's what you're asking. Yeah, he I mean we deserved every bit of it. I mean we all, I think there was six or eight of us that were working on that job at that time and we it was a snowstorm that came in and most people know about decking and snowstorm and deck gets covered in the light, flaky stuff and can't really do much. But we found other shit to do to progress the job. And he decided he wanted to go home and hell, I mean there was eight of us and look around and all of a sudden there's seven of us on the job site. And the next day there was only seven of us cuz he got met in the parking lot with a jack. He deserved it. Every bit of it. And I remember that cause I remember I sat in the van for 30 minutes thinking we were going home with that white stuff coming down. Cause I wasn't used to it. Those little Vegas and Arizona, boy didn't know that you worked in the snow. I went up there to talked to you and I said where's everybody at? We getting a ride back to our car or what we working this shit or we won't make any money. And I was son of a bitch. I remember I went back, got my tools and lunchbox out of van and we went back to work. Yeah. I don't know. I'm all for, having the conditions and everything, but when there's shit that needs to be done, you gotta do it. And Kevin's, he's actually the one that's actually really pushed toward me towards being like that. As hard ahead as he is, he's a pretty I think it's helped me be more open to the idea of, okay, this is. maybe not what's best for the men, but it's what's best for the local, and there's sometimes that we've gotta be, on one hand, carrying the local and we gotta carry our, our brotherhood on the other hand. But at the same time, they've gotta meet at some point. And I get that. And like I said, in, I think it was one of the earlier podcasts, like you, me, Kevin, were riding home one night in one afternoon from work and I was always that guy that would like to drive in the slush and shoot the slush on the day, the guy behind us, we were having a do time and we're coming home. It's probably, one o'clock, a big snowstorm, rain, snow or whatever came through. And so we rolled up and we were heading home and asked the snow union job and off the side of the road, and sure enough, they're still swinging iron. And here we are on our way home, and at some point we've gotta have that mentality okay, look, yeah, it sucks. I'm like, I get it. It, it sucks, but we've gotta stay. I think me and Kevin at that moment, correct me if I'm wrong, but you probably remember that, right? Yeah. I think we both made the decision like, all right, if it happens again, this is what we're gonna do. We've gotta, we've gotta take care of our local, and our local isn't gonna progress or succeed if we don't try and do our part, and a lot of the guys pissed off at me. I remember there was some, there were several guys on that job when you were with me that were mad than a mist with a yo-yo. But they had to figure it out, it's part of it. Here's the thing that's different is out here, we don't have just an unlimited amount of fucking work on the books, right? Yeah. When you're driving down the road and you see all these fucking cranes everywhere, and you see all these fucking buildings going up and you can only see maybe one or fucking two of'em that are on us that we're actually doing, you see all this fucking work that we don't get. You gotta ask yourself what the fuck are we doing wrong to where we're not getting this work? Oh, it's, it's because we're driving down the road. It's because those guys are leaving the job site cuz the atmosphere is not perfect or, my as half of'em just want to go home and get drunk. There's one reason to go home. But whatever the reason is for them to go home. But we have so many guys out there willing to stay. Those are the guys, those are the guys like us. These are guys that are sitting here talking around the booth right now. We're the guys that wanna stay. We want to get the job done. We want to where's the next one? Yeah. where's the next one? That's what we, that's what we say. As soon as we start a job, where's the next one? And it gets down, we've all been the guy on the job knowing, there's some checks coming up pretty soon, but where's the next one? it's the ultimate question. Yeah. And the cool thing about, like I said, the one thing I'll always, I'll never take back. I love this brotherhood more than I could even, I don't even have the words to explain how much I love it, except for the fact that we don't ever know where the next one is. Here I am sitting in LA hoping that my next moves north. Away from la

Track 2: 46:33

Hey guys. You ever went into the bank to apply for an auto loan or to refinance or house or something? They tell you to go pound sand. You know, they started out, back in 1960, a dozen of'em took two cigar boxes full of money to help their brother iron workers boom out and have some extra money and to get their finances in order. And that's how they became a judgment free zone. And that's, It's so easy to go in there and try to get, uh, an auto loan. It's easy to get your house free, refinance. They're there to help you and they understand their lifestyle. You know, they understand that it's hard to be an iron worker and you're booming out and you're in town. You're out of town. And it makes it tough when you go into these banks to get loans. But these guys make it easy. Yeah. They're, they understand that iron workers are dependable and, and trustworthy for the most. So check'em out. Sign up today for free online@ironworkerscu.org slash podcast.

47:39

I have a question for you guys. Let's hear it. For who? All of you each and yourself, right? So each one of you guys, when you got in, is it what you expected? That's a good question. For me, when I first got in, the first thing that I expected was, I remember my dad telling me that it's a rough neighborhood and you better be fucking careful. And I think that I definitely found my, found the way into the rougher side of stuff, That's where pretty quickly. That's where, all the drugs and all the stupid shit came from that. I. That I got into, but I think that what it turned into was not what I expected at all. It turned into a passion, a love a desire. It turned into something that's irreplaceable that I can't get anywhere else. It's more than just a job. It's more than just, hanging iron. It's a way of life. I, there's nothing like it. It's, no, it's not what I expected anymore. You know what I mean? Because I was one of those guys that was just looking to fucking get off work to go get drunk or whatever, fuck. It started raining on the drive to work and it was like, Fuck yeah, we're gonna have a fucking rain out. Let's go. And you'd fucking leave the job site at 7 0 5 and you'd be in somebody's fucking trunk at fucking 7 0 8 throwing back fucking shots of whiskey and fucking doing lines of coke. And if that's what you're fucking into, that's what you're looking for. Yeah. But after a while, I quit caring about that shit. I think a lot of that had to do with me fucking up my life so bad, and wanting to fucking fix it all. But after a while, you start caring about the trade and you start thinking about how important the whole thing is and the brotherhood of it all. And I dunno, it's just, it's a way of life. It's not a, it's not a fucking job to me. It's different. Last one. I love the fact when we get to be there for one each, one another, that's, I first got in, like I said, the brotherhood part. was the most important thing. Me and my brother were really close growing up, doing whatever we did, and any adventure we took, we had each other's back. And then, he went on his adventure and you still, you move forward. He pushed forward, whatever. And then, and I got into this thing, the, not just the camaraderie of the job site, the shit talk and the greatness of the teaching the, everything was what turned it. It wasn't what I expected either. And the greatest thing about it is every day since the day I got in, I want more and I get more, I meet guys like you guys, Kevin, We, I remember having beers over there at that Thanksgiving point out in the parking lot after work, cuz we stayed and hung it out. we stayed and did whatever you guys had to move across the street and hang another building. We still met up and had beers parking lot and we'd go our go o go home or go to the bar or wherever we were headed and but everybody had each other's back. Everybody had each other's back. You guys go to filling across the street where all Tom was working at. That's what I didn't expect. Everybody's willing to go help each other out. That's, it wasn't so much, and I hate to say it, it wasn't so much union. It was, oh, this guy needs help. We're gonna go help him. And then you look at the bigger picture. We were helping the union, we were helping ourselves as much as they're helping us the entire time. It's what I didn't expect. I didn't expect the help that I was going to get cause I didn't ever need it before, but I didn't think I did, that's what I didn't expect. You got guys, organizers and all that stuff. I didn't expect any of that. All the help that you get was completely unexpected. Yeah. Thought you bucket, let's go to less than 10 or see what they think. I'll give'em more after on my end, shit I'm four generations into it, I'm fourth generation and it's really all I've ever known. Cause my dad, my uncles, my grandpa, my great-grandpa, everybody was a fire worker at a local 7 32. And it was my cousins, me and my cousin Trav he finished his apprenticeship right when I started mine and. We all, it was everything At first, it was everything I expected it to be. It was like Kevin said, it was you got your RUP side and all that shit, that rer lifestyle where for me Kevin said I was that guy that, hell yeah, fucking rain now man. Time to go get some beers. Or just use any excuse to go do that. But then as it progressed, I found out, found, I seen more and then seen more pride in it, and then seen more into what it could be and why isn't it that way? And then it, then it turned into what I didn't expect it to be. At first. It was everything I expected, but then it, as I went on with my career and here I am 14 years later it's definitely not what I expected it to. I didn't think that I was gonna be on the steps at the Capitol in Montana battling right to work cuz they're trying to get right to work in Montana. Guess what? That's where I was last week, my man. It's, I did not think it was gonna be as much as it is and, standing arm in arm with your brothers and sisters and looking around and realizing that, hey, we actually do have each other's backs. When before you just thought it was the people, just the ones on the crew you were with, cuz you're always as tight as shit with them. But then you realize these are people I've never even met and we're right there standing with each other. And that's what I didn't expect of how big it really is and how true it can be of how strong the brotherhood and sisterhood could be. So that's where I'm at with it. Tanner, what you got, man? Yeah, I think. I think I'm in the same boat as you. I think it's more than I expected it to ever be. I was just talking to my wife about it last night. I was working on a job in Elco non-union making it was like 52 bucks an hour, and I was like, man, I've made it. If I could just chase these across the country I'll be set for life. Never even knowing cuz I was in the same boat as Gino. I knew about the union, but I didn't know everything that went into it and how involved it was. But I didn't even consider that I could have all that. Now you. Seven years down the line from that, I had no fucking idea that I'd be sitting right here where I am today talking to you guys about this stuff. Being involved with a podcast and trying to organize guys and making the money that I feel I deserve doing it, and then on top of that just, I wanna mirror the brotherhood thing. Like I made friends for life outta some of the wildest cats you ever n met in your life. You know what I mean? And people that I would never approach on the street and talk to, cuz I have no reason to. But, I got friends still to this day that I've known for 7, 8, 9, 10 years that I never would've met outside of this trade. You know what I mean? I, and I. I mirror your remark about it being a lifestyle, Kevin, cuz that's what it's turned into. There was a saying that I heard from a Vegas hand one time that said there are three kinds of iron workers. There's the ones that are born to do it. There's the ones that work until they can do it. And there's the ones that were born to flip burgers and can't be iron burgers. And I wasn't the guy that was born for it for sure, but I worked into it and it gave me more than I thought I ever fucking deserved. For sure. So it was more than I expected. Absolutely. More than I expected. I think for me to answer your question. I'm with less, like I, I knew what I was getting into for the most part. From whom, like my uncle and my family is my father and, the people that I grew up listening to, the stories and, I of expected one thing coming into it. And then as I got here like Tanner said, and I think I take a little bit of everybody's, there's no reason that I would ever be, there's no reason I would ever be friends with half the people that I'm friends with because of this trade. Me and Kevin have zero in common. I'm good looking. He's ugly as hell. So it's, there's that aspect in itself. That's only one of the many things. But we would never be, you're so good looking when you stand next to somebody. Ugly Exactly. But you guys know what I mean there's. There's so many things different traits and qualities that people have, and we all, for some reason, mesh so well together. And, you'll get guys in there that maybe they don't mesh, but then you look at it and it's not because they're not a good person or something, they just don't have the qualities that it takes to be an iron worker. You've gotta be a stubborn pig-headed slightly, irrational and, a little bit of a grunt drunk grunt worker type person. You've gotta be able to be on, like you said at the beginning of the podcast, be on that just, one inch from out of control and be okay with that. So I think when I got in, I thought, this is gonna be awesome. Then when I started realizing, okay, I this isn't what I thought it was gonna be. I never in a million years, like Les said, I never in a million years would think I would've been out there talking to un unre unorganized members and trying to pers not persuade is a bad word, but show them, hey, there's something out there that is better that you could possibly benefit from. And in a way, begging them to just take a look at and think for themselves. I think that's been the biggest eye-opening thing is that why wouldn't you want to be a part of the union? And, and I've heard it all. I think, unions are bad. Unions are just out to break the country. Or the problem with unions is it raises the wages and then it raises it about, know, it raises all the prices or everything. It, it does and it doesn't. You've gotta think about it like, okay. those people deserve a living wage, and Tanner, when he was, when I got a chance to talk to him, and it's funny cuz this is all, it all happened through, through Robert with Tanner, and now we're talking to Robert's brother with Tanner and, so it's this little weird circle. But when I talked to Tanner, he was making 20 bucks an hour. He'd been doing it for seven years and or eight years. Correct me if I'm wrong, but he'd been doing it for, he'd been doing it for a minute, and then here's us guys that we have this other path that we somehow stumbled across sooner and four years we're making, damn near eight, nine,$10 more just by being a part of something that he hadn't had the opportunity to get a part of. And so getting in, I expected one thing and then now since I've been in for 10 years, it seems like it's completely different. It's a different animal. The camaraderie, the types of people, like I said, you've gotta be a little bit irrational to be an iron worker and yeah, I, yeah, I think my expectations have changed in a way that I never expected them to be yeah. Yeah. I like it. I like Long-winded version, like I always give. We didn't expect any less of you buddy. That was a good question, Dino. Thanks for that man. That really got me thinking. I ask it a lot, believe it or not. Is it what you say? These kids get in and that's I like to hear their answers. Why are, why do you think the unrepresented workers not out searching for us, rather than us searching for them, I guess is the question? I think, again, there comes that generation thing, right? If their dad works for this company or their uncle, or their best friend or whatever is working for this company, and these guys have the man, we're gonna work together, we're gonna work together we, this is what we want. And they're I don't wanna say close minded, but they are cuz they got what they want right now. A lot of problems nowadays is nobody looks for the bigger picture. What's, we, like I said earlier, what's our next step? Where's the next one? That's what they're doing too. But they're not opening their mind enough to accept what we have to offer. Unfortunately, we've gotta fix that. That's what we're here for, right? We're gonna fix it. I believe I, I see the good things in the future and I think we're gonna get stronger and bigger, just like normal. I think I think a lot of it, I don't know if you guys can hear me or not. I, my shit's all. I can hear you better than all. I think a lot of, I think I actually have a question kind of piggyback off that. I wonder how many of'em even know, cuz it wasn't even brought to my attention until. Three or four years of doing it. And at that point I'm already solidified doing what I'm doing with the companies that I'm working for. And so it, I didn't know about it until one of the older cats I was working with told the story about getting blackballed from his local that he worked in. And it didn't even cross my mind until that point. And I was already solidified on top of that, I was intimidated as fuck cuz I watched all these fucking high rises going up and I was like, there's no way I can do anything like that. And so I actually wonder the same thing cuz if you're gonna be a man that stands there and tells me that you're chasing the money all the time, even if it's, that's your only criteria, right? And it would make sense for you right now today to go in there and sign an application right now. If that's what your hold up is, if you're, if you want to chase the money everywhere you go, I can tell you right now that the money is out there. But it ain't just that, it ain't just that. There's so much more to it. It's the level of brotherhood. We've talked about it a bunch, but the level of brotherhood over here is insane to me. The benefits are insane to me. Like I said, if you had told me 10 years ago that, I could have had all this, it would've been an easy decision, but I didn't know about it. So I wonder how many of'em actually do, especially in Utah where the market share is so small that, like you said, there might be fucking 26 jobs going up and two of them are ours. So I'm curious about that as well. Maybe we can ask that on the Instagram and see what people think about it. I'd do that if you would, Tanner. That'd be great. Les, what do you think, man? Yeah. I don't know. I feel like a lot of the like Tanner just said, there's a lot of guys that don't know about it. And in my area it used to be where there was like generational it was like generational for a while where it was just screw you. I won't do what you tell me, I'm not gonna do what you want me to do and you guys suck, and this and that. And that's what they thought of us. But then now it's gone to the generation of, like you guys Tanner was saying we've lost our market share in our Idaho area and now we've got a generation that just don't know. Before it was a generation of, I'm not gonna do what you tell me. I'm not gonna pay my dues and be told what I can and can't do out here. I'm a free guy, even though I'm making a hell of a lot less, I'm still free. Even though as a union member, you're free to do as you choose. You gotta follow a couple rules, but it's nothing insane. And they think that it's insane because of what, their dad or their uncle or their brother or cousin or whatever told'em. And now it's just a generation of folks who just don't know that there's a union for that. They know about unions in general. They know that they exist. They believe they know what Hollywood's told'em or what they've seen on tv. They just don't know that there's a union for what they're doing. Yeah. Yeah. Never thought of it like that. That's a pretty good point. But now that there's a generation that just don't know about it, it's hard to organize them because Tanner said, when you've got. Such a low market share. Then it comes into the struggle of putting them to work in the area they live when they're already working in the area they live. I think, yeah, I think cuz everybody wants to be home and make a living. I have no idea. I know they're making Gina, they're making, Hey, being home's great. I've never loved it as much as I do now, but that was because I was on the road for so goddamn damn long. And if I wasn't on the road, I wouldn't have met you fine gentlemen. That's right. It's a tough, it's a tough thing to trade, being gone or being home. You, both of'em have their own ups and downs. It's a. It's a hard thing to balance when you're in a trade that takes you anywhere and everywhere. That's right. Very true. Let's wrapping this up, Gino we got just a couple last questions for you. Then obviously, do you have any more questions for us? What job gave you the biggest challenges that you've seen throughout your career? Can you think of one? Can you pinpoint one that has really just been, that thorn in your side or that Achilles heel? Yeah. Yeah. I when I first got out here, honestly, when I first got out here and we were working on that, the Long Beach VA Hospital, we were building the new inpatient outpatient centers. It's to have. A 26 man project. To build two small little three story buildings. You have to have 46 men to have 26 men show up. That was the biggest thorn in my side. That's gotta be, that puts us on a whole nother topic. how frustrating. How frustrating that's gotta be. planning work is upper management. You go to bed at night thing and I got my whole day tomorrow figured out. my goal for tomorrow is this. And you come in there and you have 15 calls. I can't make it to work. I got a flat tire or having a baby, or, whatever the case may be, yeah. It's No I've always thought if I had a crew of guys like, man, this will sound super egotistical, if that's a word, but if I had a guy, a crew of guys like me, or a crew of guys like Kevin, a crew of guys like Gene or Tanner or Les, like guys that I know I can trust that it'll show up every day and earn their paycheck. I tell you that Iran work is a pretty early on and I, as an apprentice, pretty early on I was able to, push a crew or whatever, but the most frustrating part about it is dealing with. People that just don't give a shit like we do, and trying, like you said, trying to balance, okay, you go to bed, you leave that night, you've got this spine in your head, right? Okay. You're looking at the job in your mind. I think maybe it's just me, but in my mind I see the job, right? All night long. I think about, okay, if this happens, and I can put the guys here, I can move, I, you're putting this gigantic chess match all night long in your brain. You show up to work the next morning and you realize you don't have a rook, you don't have a night, you don't have a bishop. Your king's on a, it's your king's hung over in the corner somewhere, and you're basically running the job with paws, with your apprentices and you're trying to figure, you're trying to guide them so they don't hurt themselves, and all the key players are in the background, just not showing up or calling in sick, or you. Dicking off during work hours, like on their phones. Do, this is a complete irresponsibility, a lack of this, lack of give a damn. And, but yet everybody's like constantly wanting to be that foreman. Oh, I want to, I wanna be a foreman. I wanna push work on it. And then when you get there, you're like, this fucking sucks. Like it does man, you're like, it is not worth whatever that the extra pay rate is that we get if it absolutely just sucks. You cannot sleep. I wouldn't say it's like you're stressed out to the point where you're not sleeping or anything. Cuz I slept just fine. But just, it's there's so much shit that's added to your job that you don't even need to do. It's so easy to show up at seven and leave at three 30. That is the easiest thing you will able to do. but for some damn reason, iron maybe the other trades can't move either, but iron workers just have the hardest fucking time showing up to work. It's holy crying out loud, you're the best hand in the world. If you don't show up, you ain't worth of shit. Yeah. I, our biggest expectation, that's our biggest expectation though, right? Is that we find our crew that works like we do, and that's what we have to stop doing. That's our biggest, that's our biggest problem, right? Is we expect everybody to do what we do. And not everybody has the capability or, as like he said, there's this guy was born into it. He's born to do it. Everybody's physical abilities are different and it's, we have to understand that. We really need to understand that, that we this connector over here is not a wing nut. He's not a Kevin. He's a connector. Yes, he is. He's good. But he's not wingnut. He's not Kevin. He's not. Wait. How can you put my name in that list of connectors? That's cause you're a decker. I was totally, I talk Kevin, everything he knows about connecting and, known I known, I've probably taught him 10 too. Oh yeah. If I was talking about, if I was talking about Dick and I'd use my own damn name, continue. But it's what I'm getting at is we, our expectations are of what we know and what we see right? What we know we can do, what we know this guy can do. So we expect this kid that hired on as a connector to go be that guy or this decker to go be a, a bucket. Is that better? And it's just it's hard. That's the hardest part about being upper management guys. Our expectations when we So Good, good on you that you could sleep at night. Cuz I have a hard time with it when I'm worried about, schedules meeting scheduled because I haven't failed yet and I plan on keeping that right And that's I my whole drive, two and a half hour drive home for 24 miles. I think about it nonstop in traffic. 4 0 5 parking lot Oh fuck it is too, isn't it? four Mile. Miss La I dunno why you purposely live there. No, that's a good. So Gino, going forward, what do you see as your future and where do you see yourself in the next five, 10 years? When, what are you chasing? I see myself back home up north either on a job or running a job. That's what I see. Just if I'm not retired by then, but I don't see that happening anytime soon. I love it too much. I think I'd miss it. My kids are about out of the house, so other than that, I see myself on a lake fishing. Nice. I love it. Yeah. Hard not to. Yeah. What about you, Les? Where do you see yourself? I honestly have no frigging clue. I might still be an organizer. I might be out in the field on my tools. I might, I dunno this world's a freaking box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get. Oh yeah, I like that. Yep. block. Block. Seriously though, in a, as an organizer in the local, it can change at the local level. It, all it takes is just having a new business manager come in, and they don't want you to be the organizer anymore. And could be that, or I get complacent, like we talked about, and they don't want me to be the organizer anymore. And, I, I honestly can't say where I plan on being in the next five, 10 years. If I'm still the organizer, hell yeah, that means I'm doing a good job. If I'm not, then. I either quit, got fired or whatever, and I got my tools back on which wouldn't hurt my feelings one bit either. I don't mind working Yeah, I hear that. That is right. I agree. Guys I Gino, first of all, I appreciate your time man. Thanks for coming on. Thanks for visiting with us and talking about, iron work and life and just being you. Do miss you. Wish you'd come home and, bullshit and visit with the family and be a part of the cruise again out here. But you are doing a good job out there, so keep it up. You're representing local 27 and and I, we appreciate your, the hell of a job you're doing out there for us. And But it does, have your home be good too. But we appreciate you and I definitely appreciate you all of you guys. Nine last Tanner Kev, kinda little bit last mostly, but no. I appreciate all you guys man, and those that are listening too. Thanks for listening to this. It's been, it's crazy to watch the statistics behind the shelves and where everything goes. And we wanna hear from you guys. Now. We want to hear the comments and you guys think Kevin's stories are stupid, let us know. Cause we all are probably thinking the same thing. and, just I bust his balls a lot, huh? But let us know what you guys are thinking. We're, and if you're interested in coming out podcasting, let us know. Like we, we enjoy visiting and shooting the shit. It's, if you see non-union workers out there, every member should be out talking to'em. It's all go get'em. Let's all show him there's something better and there's a better way of living and that they can have what, this type of happiness or this type of joy or camaraderie or whatever you want to call it. But it's here, it's, and I'm not saying it's not there either, but it's definitely a benefit for'em. I'm, I just wanna say thanks guys. Thank you guys. Appreciate you having me. It was a good bullshit session other than the bar we'd be telling lies to each other. That's basically what I do most of the time anyways. Cause I know everybody, everybody knows I was better connected than Kevin Thanks for coming on, Gina. All right. Good to see y'all. Pleasure meeting you. Oh, you guys take care of yourself. It's a pleasure meeting you, Gina. It's a pleasure meeting you too, guys.

Track 2: 1:14:48

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