On the Job Site with Heat and Frost Insulators Local 16

Monday, 20 October 2008 00:00

By Richard Bermack
Contributing Writer
& Photographer

Insulators are an especially tight group. With only 600 members, Heat and Frost Insulators Local 16 covers all of Northern California and Northwestern Nevada, with an 85 percent unionization rate for commercial and industrial construction.

Their work is critical and highly skilled. Insulators Local 16 members work on projects ranging from nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, oil refineries, and food processing plants, to high-rise office buildings, power plants, hospitals, and schools. And because of changing environmental codes, a large portion of their current workload is in the abatement field, removing the hazardous material they previously installed.

The highly skilled nature of their work, along with a cooperative labor-management culture, has allowed union contractors to out-compete the non-union companies by providing a higher quality product in an industry that can’t afford mistakes.

In the past, the craft suffered from a high mortality rate due to workers handling asbestos. But now, safety is one of the union’s number one concerns. Local 16 workers use state-of-the-art protective suits and procedures when removing asbestos or other hazardous materials.

In addition, Local 16 has a special arrangement that allows union members to take a temporary leave of absence to work as superintendents, then return to the union to once again work with tools. The arrangement gives workers the advantage of having supervisors who understand the industry and the demands of the work, rather than being supervised by people with only a management perspective.
Organized Labor interviewed Local 16 members at the Gateway Power Plant in Antioch, working for Metalclad and on a project of Black and Vietch.

Candy Delarosa

Superintendent, 22 years

The job site is a dangerous environment, so our number-one priority is to make sure it’s safe and everybody works safely. We want people to go home in the same shape as they came in, so they can keep supporting their family financially. That’s what it’s all about.

I started in the apprentice program because I loved sheet metal work. I became a journeyman, then a foreman, and now a superintendant. I learned the whole system. I’ve worked on big and small projects. I can drive anywhere in California and see projects I’ve worked on. It gives me pride. As a superintendant, I can see it from the worker’s perspective and the superintendent’s.

Mike Carr

Journeyman Mechanic, 24 years

My co-workers are really close friends. That’s the coolest part. I live in Fresno, but we have such a large territory that we travel a lot. The guys know I’m a traveler, so one of them will say, “Mike, you need a place to stay? I have a couch.” Looking out for each other is part of the job. If there’s some conduit sticking out or a hole in the ground the first thing they’ll say is, “Hey brother, heads up.” And point it out.

Some of the metal jobs involve real intricate piping systems. They can take a while to figure out. It gets real interesting. But some guy might know an easier way, and they’ll show you the tricks.

Richard Derr

Quality Control Steward, 28 years

I’m a liaison between the employer and the workers. I attend the safety meetings in the morning and meet with the foreman to make sure no issues arise that could stop work. I keep an eye on quality-control and make sure there are no loose ends to keep us from finishing the job. We’re a pretty close lot. I like the hand work. It takes a lot of ingenuity. You can always make things harder, but you learn how to minimize the steps and keep it simple, and keep the work rolling along. There’s a lot of creativity involved in metal fabrication, and when we’re done, a lot of times the finished product looks like a piece of art.

Kevin Taylor

Apprentice, 2 years

I was doing scaffolding and abatement when a friend turned out from the Local 16 apprenticeship program. He told me about the union and how good the benefit package was. What especially appealed to me was getting healthcare for my children.

I never thought I’d be going back to school after 30 years, learning multiplication and division, and geometry, but you use it everyday in the field.

It’s a great experience, to learn the craft hands-on, working with the guys you’ll be working with in the future. We get to learn the tricks of the trade from those who have achieved the skills. It gives you confidence to know you’re on the road to greatness.

James Pham

Journeyman Mechanic, 24 years

I came to the United States from Vietnam when I was 17. First I worked in electronics and then got this job. I like the pay, the insurance, and that it’s fair. You can work good, and get paid good, and know that tomorrow you will have a job. And you learn new skills all the time.

Timothy Purcell

Journeyman Mechanic, 27 years

My father was an insulator for 30 years. After high school, I put three years in the Navy and then got my chance to get in the trade. Back then it was kind of a family thing. I was living with my dad, and the business agent would call and ask him if I could work.

My father was old school. They would cover the pipe in tarpaper and wrap wire around it a few times. They understood watershed theory and their work holds up pretty well. But working with that tarpaper can be pretty messy.

What I really got from my dad was a work ethic. Today, even in my prime, I don’t think I could have outworked my father when he retired at 62. He was just a real hard-working man. On the weekends he would spend his time working on his house or go over to my sister’s and help her out. He was swinging a pick ax a few months before he died at 72. No one ever said a bad word about my father.

A lot of times the work feels like déjà vu. The refineries and power plants inspect everything on a regular basis to see how the welds and 90-degree bends are holding up. So a lot of times you go back to the same job you did years before. Everything was removed so they could see what was going on underneath. We cover it back up and you think, “Didn’t I do this once before?”

Bob Salayko

Foreman, 30 years

It’s a great trade, the work, and especially the paycheck. The worst part is the toll on the body. Crawling around, carrying things, going up and down ladders eats up the knees. A lot of the guys have had knee surgery, I have. The biggest change in the trade has been safety. I don’t want to even describe what it was like before; it has improved 100 fold.

Don Moon

Local 16 Vice President, 19 years

The best part is the friendship. We’re a real brotherhood. You work with someone on a job for 10 months and they become family.

I like doing the planning and staying ahead of the work. That way, when guys finish one thing, they can jump right on to the next without wasting time getting organized. Right now I am preparing end-caps. We used to pack the joints with calcium mud and wrap it with fiberglass like on a boat. Now everything is metal. It’s a lot faster and cleaner and looks better when you’re finished. When I leave a job, I want the satisfaction of everything looking perfect.