When Joseph Glynn saw that the Blue Angels flight path over Chicago would go over his union hall, he made sure to grab his camera before he went out to catch the show dedicated to honoring essential workers during the coronavirus pandemic.
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Chicago Local 134 member Joseph Glynn snapped a shot of the Blue Angels flying over the local’s hall on May 11.
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“I just thought it would be cool,” said the Local 134 member and amateur photographer of the show that took place on May 11. “When I saw the jets coming I ran out and took about six or seven shots.”
Those shots included capturing the impressive flight skills of the pilots flying in close formation framed by the Local 134 sign on one side and the American flag on the other. In one of the shots, the sign’s digital scroll is displaying, “Thank You” with a heart.
Messages on the sign have been interspersing words of thanks to essential workers and other coronavirus-related information along with the more typical union messages. Included on the rolling scroll are “Clean Hands Save Lives,” “Thank You Front-line Workers,” “Proud Union Home,” and “All in Illinois.”
“We want to thank our first responders, doctors and nurses, but just as importantly our IBEW Local 134 members and the entire union construction industry who have been frontline essential workers since this pandemic erupted,” said Business Manager Don Finn. “We continually demonstrate why we are the best of the best.”
Local 134 members are working in hospitals across the city and helped power an alternative care facility at the McCormick Place Convention Center.
Members and union staff have also lent a hand to retirees by offering care packages of non-perishable foods and toiletries. The local has also delivered masks and gloves to retirees and members on job sites.