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‘On the Job’ with Bricklayers and Allied Craft Workers Local 4 |
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Building Trades craft union members have been working on the massive $1.7 billion LA Live development in downtown Los Angeles. Bricklayer and Allied Craft Local 4 Craftsmen from Carra Marble were laying stone outside the Nokia Theater which is set to open mid-October with a concert by the Eagles.
Elsewhere on the project, Local 4 members from MCI Masonry Concepts were laying concrete block on what will become a sound dampening wall at the night club, Club Nokia.
When completed, the LA Live Project will be one of many historic new building in downtown LA’s new skyline that is being built by the best trained and most skilled craftsmen and women in the industry: members of the LA/OC Building Trades.
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Mark Johnson
25 years
Carra Marble
The best thing about my craft is the fact that it is a craft. There’s a real skill level involved in what we do and we take pride in that. Our job is much more technical than people realize. You have to learn to visualize how things are going to lay in before hand so you avoid any problems. Things don’t always work out like they do on paper and you need to be able to see the problems that could develop before you lay a whole row of stone. That comes from experience.
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Rafael Chora
Third Period Apprentice
Carra Marble
My brother Raul got me into the trades. I was in a job that I didn’t like. I wanted a career so I joined the union. I like being able to work outside and working with my hands. Every day I learn something new on the job. I am lucky to be able to work with my brother. We make a great team and I am fortunate to be able to learn from him.
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Steve Kaiser
Forman, 6 years
MCI Masonry Concepts
Both my father and grandfather were bricklayers and that is how I got into the craft. I like the fact that it takes skill and that I get to work outdoors. This will eventually be a night club. We are laying concrete block on what will be a wall to cut dampen sound. It’s been a pretty straight-forward project. We just finished some beautiful brick work at USC’s Galen Center. I am really proud of the craftsmanship on that project. On this job, most of our work won’t be seen.
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Raul Chora
5 years
Carra Marble
Being a union member provides me and my family with security. The wages are good, and my family gets medical coverage. This is a great project to work on for me. I’m local and live really close. I will be able to come over here with my family and show them all of the work that I did on this building.
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Mario Cerda
Foreman 25 Years
Carra Marble
We currently have a crew of seven working here working on the paving and the planters outside the Nokia Theater, but we’ve had up to 11 here. The biggest challenge on this project has been coordinating with other crafts. There’s a concert coming in here in a few weeks so there are a lot of crafts in here getting the job done and at times we are all on top of one another.
This building will be here long after me and is important to the development of downtown Los Angeles. My kids and grandkids will be able to see a concert here or drive by and know that I was a part of building it. We are making LA a better place.
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Jay Johnson
Journeyman 23 Years
Carra Marble
My uncle Mike Conklin got me into the marble trade in 1984 and I was fortunate to work under Art Ince and Art Coffee who were instrumental in my development in the trade. What I like best about my craft is the visibility of our work—it’s what people see the most. I’ve found a career and I have no desire to do anything else. It’s the second oldest profession in the world.
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