Sheet Metal Workers Local 17 member Adam Wilson has taken over as a labor management representative for the union in Maine following the retirement of Don Nazaroff earlier this month. Wilson, 30, grew up in Huntington, Indiana as the son of UAW sheetmetal worker, or “tinner” as they’re called in the midwest. He attended community college in Malta, Illinois and transferred to Husson University to finish school after his father retired to Maine.
“My father and I used to come up here to Maine every summer. He had vacation time with General Motors and he and I would go on camping and fishing trips, going all the way up to Prince Edward Island, up and down New England and Southern Canada,” said Wilson. “We fell in love with the New England atmosphere.”
Wilson’s original dream was to become a baseball player, but after he graduated from Husson in 2016 and he began reassessing his career path, his father urged him to try learning a trade. In 2017, Wilson started his sheetmetal apprenticeship with the Sheet Metal Workers.
“It turned out to be a really good career for me,” said Wilson. “I liked the guys I was working around. It took care of me and my girlfriend, it’s really helped me along in my career and I’m very happy that I got into it.”
He said when he learned Nazaroff was retiring, he began thinking about how he could use his knowledge and skillset to ensure his brothers and sisters had strong representation while also supporting working class people throughout the state.
He says one of his priorities is to pass a law requiring mechanical licensing for people who perform sheet metal work as it will improve the quality and safety of these installations and prevent low-road contractors from underbidding skilled union workers.
“When you don’t have these strong standards, steel isn’t erected correctly or buildings and roofs collapse,” said Wilson. “We need guys who know what they’re doing, have the hours and the training. You can’t compare a two-year tech school to four or five year apprenticeships and all of the man hours that go into it.”
His other goal is to get more younger people into the trades. He says his relative youth helps to connect with those workers. He said one attractive aspect of pursuing a union apprenticeship is it offers security and an alternative to college. At a time when millions of students are suffering under student debt, union apprenticeships allow young people to get paid while they learn a trade and finish debt free.
“I know that first hand from going through the system. If I had done this when I was in my early 20s instead of pursuing other things I would be much better off,” he said. “Building trades unions offer an education and pay while you’re learning which is something that the college system doesn’t do. You can get an internship or an unpaid apprenticeship through the college system, but you'll end up in debt.”
He said it’s more important than ever to get more skilled workers into the sheetmetal as the COVID pandemic revealed the necessity to upgrade air delivery systems and get rid of sick buildings.
“It’s a very lucrative business, but we also need to get our membership up so we can’t get more projects in the state,” he added. “That’s the biggest thing across the trades — we need manpower.”