“Just out of high school, I was spinning my wheels, working shipping/receiving in a woolen mill. My father said: ‘What are you going to be doing in five years? You can still be working at this factory, or you can become a licensed electrician and make much more money. Which way are you going to go?’

My grandfather helped run the first electrical grid from Niagara Falls to Kitchener, Ontario, in the early 1900s, building the first hydroelectric generating plant in Niagara Falls. My father was a union electrician, and I recall playing in the back of his work truck when I was a child.

I thought I’d try doing things differently, and being young and rebellious led me to think there was something better out there. But there’s nothing better — the electrical trade was the best thing for me.

I took the smart route and joined my local union.

I worked for more than 40 years, 30 of them with the same company. I used my union training to become a welder, electrical panel builder and an operator of an eight-ton mobile crane. I became an expert on rewiring metal stamping presses, and for years we had an all-trades maintenance program for presses. But all the presses disappeared to China and Mexico in 2008, and many factories in our area closed.

Fortunately, my boss at the time was skilled at estimating and gaining contracts for infrastructure projects at water and sewage treatment plants, water filtration plants, and water pumping stations. I worked under contract for 20 years for the city of Toronto, and it was very rewarding.

Together with brothers and sisters from Local 353, we worked to modernize electricity in Toronto, rebuilding this very old infrastructure, important work that had to be done. My boss’s job was to get the contract, and my job was to figure out how to carry it out in the most efficient way. We did really well, and the company rewarded us with long-term employment.

I retired from my last project in 2017. It’s a bit of a shock when you retire because you’ve got all this knowledge, all these contacts and you know exactly how things should happen. It’s a shock to feel like, ‘Nobody needs that from me anymore, and now’s the time to do something different.’ That took me a couple of years to figure out. I still like to get back on occasion, like working as lockout/tag-out manager for a big construction job. The last time I did temporary senior project manager work, I said, ‘I’ll give you 3 months.’ And that’s all there is time for. We’re off for a boat trip!

I live a very full life of traveling, making improvements to my home, and rebuilding and showing classic cars, all thanks to my generous IBEW pension. I’m engaged to a wonderful woman, Luisa, and together, we are touring the world! I’m 68 years old, in perfect health, and my fiancée and I are enjoying retirement without limitations. Thanks, IBEW!”