In this interview S.H., a sheet metal worker with Local 80 recalls growing up in Taylor, MI and attending college in Kentucky and Lawrence Technical University before having to drop out for financial reasons. A sheet metal worker friend encouraged…
Sue Jantschak is a business agent with the Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters and Millwrights. After graduating from Michigan State University with a degree in veterinary technology and working in that field for thirteen years Sue developed…
T.M., a non-union roofer and general contractor, was born and raised in Trenton, MI. T.M. got into the construction trade at age 18 after buying a house, realizing she could not afford to hire help she learned how to do the repair work herself. At…
Pat Nuznov is an electrician with IBEW-International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 58 Detroit. In 1978, thanks to President Carter and affirmative action, Nuznov applied for and was accepted into IBEW Local 58’s apprenticeship program.…
Terri Patterson is a structural ironworker with Ironworkers Local 25 and a third generation Native American ironworker. In this interview Terri describes the apprentice program and the classes. Many of her male relatives are in the field and she…
Jola Stone attended art school and worked in the engineering and drafting departments of Consumers Power in Grand Rapids, MI before a friend referred her to an opening at MichCon (now DTE). Stone was the first women hired into the drafting…
In this interview Carrie Wells, a tile setter from Detroit recalls how she entered the tile setting trade after attending college and working in a radio station. Wells explains the apprenticeship program’s mandate to accept women and minorities and…
J.W. is a metal model maker and a trainer with the UAW. Born and raised in Flint, MI J.W. went to work on the line at Delphi East in the mid 1970’s. She worked on the line for 10 years, took the skilled trades test and scored very high. J.W. chose…
Sara Willis is an electrician at the Chrysler Sterling Heights Assembly Plant. Willis grew up in Grand Rapids and moved to Detroit in the early 1980’s to care for her ailing grandmother. She applied for the Local 58 electrical apprenticeship at the…