“Prior to joining the IBEW, I was working for UPS. I took a job there after a period of voluntary unemployment, having worked at a credit union where I didn’t enjoy my job. I did well at UPS and was promoted to part-time supervisor for the loaders. The early mornings didn’t bother me, but it was part time and I needed a full-time salary.

My father told me about the IBEW. My parents didn’t go to college, so they couldn’t guide me in that direction. My father’s idea was for me to become an electrician. As a union carpenter, he worked alongside some IBEW members and told me: ‘IBEW Local 3 is taking applications. It’s the electricians’ union — don’t you want to be an electrician?’ I said, ‘I don’t know, Dad, I never really thought about it.’ And he goes, ‘Listen, I think it’s a great opportunity, you’ll have union benefits, you won’t have to worry about money, you’ll make a good living.’ My father is a very proud union member, and I knew he wasn’t steering me wrong.

My father and I went to the Local 3 union hall for information on the apprenticeship. We were met by a very nice lady in the apprenticeship department, and she explained how it worked. I went through the process: the application, aptitude test, interview. All went well.

I waited three years for my spot to open up. They called me a week before Christmas, telling me I was accepted. I said: ‘When do I start? I’ll start tomorrow!’ They told me I’d start in February, but I quit UPS the next day. I wanted to be available for everything that would come.

Since then, Local 3 and the IBEW have allowed me to accomplish everything I wanted in my career. I have real skills and a trade. I completed my bachelor’s degree in labor studies and have no student debt. I have a structured retirement plan with a pension and annuity, great health insurance, and a union and leadership that have my back. I have representation. I take nothing for granted; I am grateful for everything.

Unions have provided for my family since our start in the U.S. My grandfather immigrated from Yugoslavia in 1970 with my grandmother and seven children, with an eighth born after they arrived. Both my grandparents found work as building cleaners, and my grandmother’s workplace was organizing into what is now known as SEIU Local 32BJ.

She told my grandfather that he should tell the guys he worked with that they should organize, too, because what was offered by the union wouldn’t be available to them otherwise. My grandfather, having just escaped a corrupt government, felt as if paying dues was a step backward. But with my grandmother’s influence, he realized it was a small price to pay for job security, retirement benefits and health insurance for his family.

I stand proud with a Local 3 card in my pocket. The union owes me nothing, but I owe the union everything.”