DANIELLE WILSON: MY JOURNEY

Fourth-year Apprentice – Jameson Sheetmetal

I am currently in my fourth year as sheet metal worker apprentice, and I can’t wait to journey out! I am 38 weeks pregnant and hoping to go into labor any day, but up until seven months pregnant I was working for Jameson Sheetmetal out of Plainfield in industrial HVAC.

All the men in my family are union members. One day, my brother-in-law told me that I should take the sheet metal apprentice test. I thought I needed a change, so I ended up going and I got in.

Before I began my apprenticeship, I thought all metal pieces were made in a factory and directions would tell me how to install them. In my first week, I was handed a piece of metal and told to install a corner piece. I asked, ʻWhere is the corner piece?’ They said, ʻGrab that sheet and bend it! You have to cut and make it!’ That’s where my art background has been very helpful. It’s a lot of learning, but the art part of it does help, especially with architectural.

When I was younger, I took art classes, studied at community college, and started selling some of my canvas paintings. It just so happened that one day, somebody wanted me to paint something for them. Ten years later, I was still painting murals on people’s walls in their houses. I supplemented that by working as a licensed cosmetologist out of my house. I was making good money, but I wasn’t saving for the future. I was doing a lot of work, but again, I didn’t have any benefits or savings for retirement. I wasn’t building up to anything. It took until I was in my 30s to get smart and understand I needed a career.

As a sheet metal worker, I have learned the importance of working hard and listening to your journeyman—it gets you a long way! You can only learn so much in school. The majority of our education comes from the field. My union brothers that I have worked with all have 15 plus years experience and know all the tricks of the trade. It’s an ongoing joke that I always work harder and not smarter, but when I listen up and do what I’m told and allow them to teach me how to do it, that makes my job a lot easier. I was stubborn my first year, but I finally learned how to listen to my brothers!

Becoming a union member has literally been the ticket to my future. This is everything I was hoping for. When I was younger, I was always thinking that this was the life I wanted with my future husband. It wasn’t until I got in the union that I realized I can give myself the future I want. It’s amazing. I love it.

When I was pregnant with my fourth child, I presumed taking time off after childbirth would be just like it had been with my previous jobs: less than a week off and they right back to work. You need to make your bills, you have to feed your kids. So, I had to go back five days after I had my son. I was prepared to do that after this one.

This time, things were different as an apprentice sheet metal worker and a member of Local 265, I was amazed to learn I had access to paid maternity leave through my union benefits. When I got the call that said, ʻWe now have maternity leave’ and I learned how much it was, it was nice. It was nice to be able to stay home and spend time with my son.

Maternity leave is vitally important to new moms and their children. It can play a huge role in reducing post-partum depression, because at that time, not only are you nervous, you have this newborn at home. But then you have to leave your newborn in the care of someone else to go to work because you have to pay your bills. To know that I got to be at home for six weeks and bond with him more before I went back to work—it was a million pounds off my shoulders to know that I had that time.

In the future, I am looking forward to working full-time as a journeyman and hope also to have a lot more education under my belt so I can expand my options as a sheetmetal worker. I do as much of welding as I can now (which I love) but also have always had an interest in blueprint/Revit. I would also like to be more involved with my union outside of work.

My strength is that I always want to learn and advance my career. I love that there are so many different sides to sheet metal that you can’t get bored of your job. Every new job is different. I always try to learn something new every day and I am always trying to better myself. ▪