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The purpose of the
apprenticeship program, said Irvin, “is to bring in young
men and women who have an interest in our trade and to pass
on information from one generation to the next.”
Mahoney, who completed the
four year program in two and a half years, spoke of his
journey at the signing.
“Because I had a pretty
rough and tumble past, that held me to minimum wage jobs
which was rough on me and the family,” recounted Mahoney.
The journeyman arrived at Local 500 in 2012, filled out an
application and took the test. He worked diligently over the
course of his training even earning college credits along
the way.
A troubled past,
particularly one fraught with criminal issues, can eliminate
so many career opportunities for so many. That was the
dilemma that Apprentice Irene Gacita faced for years.
“I was always a minimum
wage pencil pusher,” she recalled. “I have a lengthy record
and I have a granddaughter in my custody. Fleetwood gave me
the chance. He’s the best motivational speaker I’ve ever
had. Joining Gacita at the signing were Shaquille Clemons,
Jordan Ramos, Corey Bennett and Asia Washington.
Laborers Local 500 was
formed in 1919 and represents over 1,300 men and women
working in the building trades construction union. That
number represents an almost 400 person increase in the three
years since Fleetwood took over leadership of the local.
Laborers are skilled in
the placement and removal of concrete, demolition, asbestos
removal, grade checking, flagging, carpenters tenders, brick
mason tenders, hazardous waste removal, tunneling and more.
“We are there before
[other construction workers] get there and we are there
after they leave,” said Gacita.
“We’re like butlers,”
added Fleetwood. “We do the hard stuff.”
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