Brothers and Sisters,

This will be my last entry as the business rep of Local Union 718. The next update will be from the incoming business representative who will take up the flag as tribune. It will be nearly 5 years on the nose that I have been representing us. A lot has been learned through mistakes, and success.

To the executive board of 718 we have worked shoulder to shoulder to make this union better on many fronts. Some of you I have worked shoulder to shoulder with on the job, as an apprentice, journeyman, or foreman. It has been a gift to work for leaders in the field and leaders in organizing that I learned from and grabbed good skills from whenever I saw the opportunity.

I hear a lot about the how the union doesn’t do this or that. That is not my experience. For me the union has been and still is opportunity. It’s the opportunity to make the best possible wage as a glazier, have health care for my family, a chance at a pension to retire with dignity and have an available network of employers have hired me with the simple verbal resume of, “I am a union glazier”. The union has been an opportunity for me to give back to others. Local 718, DC16, and the International Union of Painters & Allied Trades invested in me so that I may grow that opportunity for others. The “others” will be expanded to many union trades brothers and sisters. The union dollars we all pay will continue to be a valuable investment. As I accept my new role as the Business Manager of the San Mateo County Building and Construction Trades Council I will not forget where I came from, and it is my intent to carry all that has been invested in me and all that I have learned to grow that opportunity in San Mateo County.  

Fraternally,
Business Representative
Local Union 718 / District Council 16
1939 Market Street, Suite B., San Francisco, CA 94103
Telephone: (415)625-0225
Email: bart@dc16.us

“The reward for work well done is the opportunity to do more” ~Jonas Salk~