Name: Katherine Arvelo
City/Town: Huntington, Long Island
Union: Sheet Metal Workers Air Rail Transportation (SMART) Local #28 (Metropolitan NY and Long Island)
Title: Currently a Fourth Term Apprentice (2nd year apprentice)
Age: 35
How did you find out about the program? My brother went through Opportunities Long Island and he is currently an Ironworker.
Is he still in the apprentice program? No, he graduated from his apprenticeship and he’s a mechanic (journey worker).
What were you doing beforehand (before Opportunities Long Island)? I was in the medical field.
What does a typical day as a Sheet Metal Worker look like for you? Currently I’m in the shop. You can either get sent to the shop or sent to the field. My shop is relatively close to home. I live in the Huntington area and my shop is in Farmingdale, so it’s about a 20 minute commute each way. Monday through Thursday we start work at seven am and Fridays we start at six am. Monday through Thursday I get off at 3:30; on Fridays I get off at 2:30. It’s an eight hour work day. At the shop we manufacture what is going out to the field. So all the duct work that needs to be out in the field for certain jobs, we’re making it work in the shop. So whether we’re burning a piece on the plasma and then welding it – whatever needs to be done for the piece to be ready to go out to the field is what we do in the shop. For the most part I’ve been on the plasma, which is one of the more important jobs as far as making sure that the piece is burning correctly in the beginning so that when it gets to the people who are working it up and sending it out, everything is correct. Obviously the industry is getting a little slow right now with COVID, so I’ve been moving around the shop - from lining to making the extra pieces that need to go into the ductwork, whether it’s a vein or an extra piece. So my job is far from boring. You’re doing something different every day. During the pandemic my shop was part of building the Stony Brook wing that was going to take care of patients that did not have COVID. So that felt like a great accomplishment for myself and our shop – we were working mostly seven days a week to make sure that this hospital was going up so that people felt safe to go somewhere if they didn’t feel well (but didn’t have COVID).
How did you end up picking the Sheet Metal Workers? Did your brother try to pull you into the Ironworkers? The Ironworkers have to deal with a lot of heights, and that is not one of my strong suits, so I was going to steer away from that; I didn’t care what he said (laughing). Going to the different trades and listening to what they had to offer and the opportunities that each different trade offers you – I felt at that time that the Sheet Metal Workers was the best one for me because you have a program that gives you so many options. The opportunities were endless – as far as becoming an Instructor when you were done if that was something you wanted to do, or testing and balancing, drafting, sketching, AutoCAD – it’s like you didn’t have to stay in one spot. You could expand. You could go to night classes and get certifications that would help you in your career down the line. So I felt like I could grow with Local 28, which is why I chose them.
You mentioned you have not been in the field but in class this whole week? How does your apprenticeship work? The way Local 28 works is as an apprentice you go to school a whole week once every three months. So I was in school this week, and on Monday I take my big test to become a fifth term apprentice. It’s been a little more difficult with COVID because they’re trying to keep the numbers down of how many people are in the school at a time. So when I went to school this time, some days I was home on Zoom, some days I was in school for half a day and then I would come back and sign into Zoom to finish the day.
And you get paid for that instruction time? Yes.
You mentioned you have a daughter, right? I have two daughters.
How do you balance that? Do you have any advice for women (or parents) who are trying to get into the field? My advice is don’t let the fact that you’re a mom, and especially if you’re a single mom like myself, deter you or make you think you cannot do it. Local 28 is trying to fund a program right now as we speak for working moms that have kids that need daycare. Yes the trade starts very early. My youngest is eight so she needs somebody here to put her on the bus in the morning. It’s not that it’s not hard, but it’s not impossible. I feel like if this is something you want to do and you work hard you can make it happen.
Other than your career, has anything about your life changed since switching to this field (from the medical field)? Absolutely. I was just looking at how much I’ve put into my annuity package. With Local 28 we have an annuity and a pension. You feel good when you see how much you’ve accomplished; how much I’ve put away from the time I started until now. I can buy my own house one day because I am able to put money aside that I wasn’t able to when I was in the medical field. When I was in the medical field, I felt like I was living paycheck to paycheck. And now my bills are still the same, it’s just different when you’re able to pay your bills and know that you’re putting something away for the future.
Do you have any advice for a young person who may not know much about the construction sector as a career? I do. There’s a lot of kids that are coming out of high school, and they don’t know what they want to do. And college is not for everyone, and that’s okay. Getting into a trade is great for someone that doesn’t necessarily think that college is for them. You’re not putting yourself in a jam where you have to pay all these loans back and still not getting a job out of it. With a trade you’re making a career; you’re building steps to go forward in life and accomplish the things that you want. It’s a great opportunity to start with a fresh slate and not have to pay a loan back. The Trades are great for people who want to work with their hands and build. If I ever have grandkids I’m going to be able to (show them what I did and say) “I helped build that”.
Any last comments about Opportunities Long Island or anything about the apprenticeship? I feel like Opportunities Long Island has helped so many people. Just the success stories in my family alone - my brother is a successful Ironworker; he’s gone through his apprenticeship and is now a mechanic. I’m going through my apprenticeship at Local 28. Some of the students that I went to OLI with are my peers right now in Local 28, and it’s changed our whole way of life. I was horrible with timing beforehand, I will admit that. OLI put structure in me where I can say that in the 2 ½ years I’ve been in the Local I have not been late once. They set fundamental steps and values and Erica (Rechner – OLI Training Director) is amazing. She definitely instilled responsibility in us.
Good luck on your test next week: Thank you. Yeah once I pass this comp on Monday it’s a big leap. It’s the last actual comp I have to take as an apprentice and it gives me a pretty nice raise! (Update: Katherine passed!)
Katherine Arvelo, Graduate of Opportunities Long Island Pre-Apprenticeship Program