Wearing Two Hard Hats: Jackie Waltman Adds Residential Agent Role to Her Union Duties
Jackie Waltman has been a Local 11 member for 24 years, the last seven as a Business Agent for CE/CWs. Recently, she started wearing another hat, that of Business Agent for residential wiremen.
Jackie took a few minutes from her busy schedule to discuss her new role with News@11.
Starting off, what is this new position?
JW: I’m the Business Rep for CWs and CEs. So basically, I’m a Business Rep for the apprentices. What I do is service the members. So, when a residential unit member has issues, I take care of it, pretty much what I do every day.
As a Business Agent for residential members, what does that service look like?
JW: I go out on job sites where there’s residential members to check up on them. Anytime anybody needs anything – water, safety concerns, jobsite concerns, personal problems – they can call me, and I try and take care of it. Basically, I’m their Business Agent for whatever they need.
If they have an issue, how do you go about resolving it?
JW: First, I find out what the issue is. If I can handle it on my own, I do. If I feel like I need to bring someone else in who can help me resolve it, I do. If I don’t have the answer for them, I find the answer.
Basically, that’s what I’ve been doing for the last six or seven years.
This new role is in addition to your current job as CE/CW rep, correct?
JW: Yes, that is correct. Sometimes it can be a lot of work, depending on the issues. But I like servicing and helping the members. I work better under pressure.
What are some challenges within the residential world?
JW: I’m still learning and reading their contract and learning about what residential members can and can’t do. You have to be understanding. This is a business. Our members have to go out there, represent themselves, show up to work and do their job. Eventually, they’ll get better at it, and eventually they’ll move up and on to other jobs. I tell our members: it really is in their hands. So, they determine how far they can go on the job and in their careers.
I do the same thing for CWs as I do for residential. I tell them to call me if they have problems, and I can help them take care of it. Whether it’s safety, whether it’s water, whether it’s money, whether it’s job conditions, I help guide them.
How does your work with residential help the union?
JW: You have big contractors who go after the big jobs and big money. Then you have smaller contractors, like residential contractors, who go after the smaller jobs. Non-union has a lot of those residential and smaller
private jobs.
Currently, we’re targeting contractors to go after those smaller residential jobs. By putting our CWs in there, those contractors are able to bid on those jobs and be more competitive. It’s a chance to organize smaller contractors into the union, which is our goal: to not only grow our union, but also our market share. We want to organize the entire industry!
