What BAC Means to Me

Alex Leslie

In April 1953 I joined Local 2 Toronto, Ontario, Canada as a bricklayer apprentice. The business agent asked me if I thought I could do the work. I was 16 years old, 5' 5'', 135 pounds, and looked like a little kid. I said, “Just give me a chance.”

The first day on the job the foreman took one look at me, handed me a bucket, and told me to fill it with water to give the men a drink. The superintendent on the job was an ex-bricklayer. He saw what I was doing and told me to put the bucket down. He kicked it off the second floor and told me if he ever saw me with anything but a trowel in my hand that he’d kick me off the building. There was a real good and strong Union man. God rest his soul because we need more like him.

I began working with two old English bricklayers, both in their sixties. They wore suits, collars, and ties, with polished boots and fedora hats. They were the last of the old time bricklayers and they sure taught me a lot. If you splashed mud on these guys’ boots you’d catch hell. If you left your trowel in the middle of the mortarboard they’d bury it or throw it off the building. Beside their quaint ways, these men taught me not only the trade, but to always work hard for a day’s pay, not to complain, to be glad to have a job, to take pride in my work, and to take responsibility for my mistakes. They said that if I did these things that I’d seldom be out of work.

Thanks BAC for giving a 16-year old high school drop out a chance…

How right they were! For the last 42 years I’ve been a member of Local 21 Illinois in Chicago. I am happily retired in Las Vegas (no more snow). The moral of this story is that it’s not the size of the man or woman that matters, it’s the man or woman in the size that counts.

Thanks BAC for giving a 16-year old high school drop out a chance, because that’s what most of us really want in life, just a chance. God willing, I will get my 50-year Gold Card next year. I was never out of work much over all those years. I guess those two old Englishmen were right.

Fraternally,
Alex Leslie
Local 21 Illinois (retired)