Brotherhood is the backbone of all good Unions. When we look at the historic pictures of jobsites the sense of comradery is visible. And I believe we are all wanting that feeling of belonging. In fact, the constitution of the IBEW list cultivating friendships as one of its main objectives. There is an epidemic of loneliness in this country and comradery is more important than ever. Brotherhood/Sisterhood is still alive in the IBEW, sometimes we just have to seek it out.

After getting laid off a few times in the early 2000’s and not landing a job that would stick, I started getting a bad attitude. I was working at a middle school for a short stint, and I ran into a journeyman named Eric. Eric was this tough guy from the west side. He had this scowl that could’ve made Jimmy Hoffa throw his own self in the river. (I later found out he needed glasses but refused to wear them at work because he knew it intimidated people so much.)

Eric had been on enough jobs to know when a guy was getting (the red ass), and he could see it every morning when I showed up for work. Needless to say, we didn’t get a long at first and I met him with resistance. He tried telling me that this was a good job to be on, which was a lie. Eric also told me if I was so unhappy, maybe I should drag up. There really wasn’t much work in Cincinnati and I told him I didn’t want to travel for work at the time. He fired back, “Oh so you traveled huh? Where did you travel? An Hour from the house? Did you go to Hamilton’s local? And now you call yourself a traveler.” I was furious, but once I listed off places I worked, he seemed impressed. After that Eric told me some stories about his experience working on the road, now it was my turn to be impressed.

We had debates about the union and how to fix it. After a while, our heated debates turned into serious discussions. Eric thought we should bring back the daybook to our local and since I only knew of the bidding system, he explained it to me. Currently, if you put a bid on the job line and you are the closest person to number one on the out of work list, you get the job. When we had a daybook, the first journeyman to make it to the union hall got the job first. When I asked Eric why he liked the daybook, he said, “I feel like the referral agent is held more accountable with a daybook and it more personable when they see a guy’s face that hasn’t worked in six months. ” I understood what he was saying. This sort of separation weakens the brotherhood, however once a change is in place, it’s hard to go back. I remember thinking to myself, if more people in our local were willing to have these hard discussions, our local could change for the better.

The more Eric and I worked together, the more I felt myself getting out of a slump. It turned out we had the same sense of humor. Eric would always say, “Now Jimmy, why leave and put them in a bind when you could stay and keep them in one.” That made me laugh every time. I did a pretty good impression of our foreman that made Eric laugh just as equally. We would walk over to The Half Day Cafe for Coffee at break time for coffee. Just imagine two construction workers walking into a place that served Avocado and toast, what a sight! To this day, Eric will still remind me that when he showed up, he “Made it better.” Eric wasn’t wrong. I was in a bad head space about the changes in our local. After working with Eric, I was feeling positive about the changes I could make if I got more involved. I am eternally grateful to Eric for getting me back on the right path.

After leaving that job, I took a call for JSI* and gave them my best work. I had honed my skills, and I was feeling confident with everything I did. I was with JSI for a year in a half when they sent me to Mercy Anderson to help build a new wing of the hospital. When I got there, my foreman told me I would be working with this fifth-year apprentice named Adam and that he needed a little push. Adam would soon become a journeyman, and it would be my job to help get him ready for that big step in his career. My foreman took me to the second floor and introduced me to Adam and then he told us our job was to run a pipe rack for all the branch circuits of the hospital. I remember waiting until the foreman left to set my tools down on Adam’s material cart. I picked up his spit bottle, looked at it and said, “Get this nasty fucking spit bottle off my cart!” I looked at Adam sternly and flung his bottle across the building. Adam was a little puzzled, “Hey man! This is my material cart!”

I fired back, ” It’s not yours anymore… This is mine now and you work for me.” I wasn’t much for being a tough guy but if they thought Adam needed a push, I was going to do everything in my power to help him succeed. You see, Adam was Eric’s brother and what Adam needed was some tough love.

I’ll see you on the next one.