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I am a union ironworking foreman. A slang term for my job is an ironworking pusher.

I motivate those working with me and make sure everything's safe. I ensure that enough work is getting done.

I raise and set the iron to construct buildings. I plumb the buildings. I stick all the required bolts in the buildings and tighten them with an impact gun. Sometimes I reconstruct broken or faulty parts from the manufacturer with a welder. I also attach different steel structural members to the building with my welder.

Plumbing a building is making sure that the iron is exactly vertical. It's like leveling a shelf—plumbing is vertical, leveling is horizontal.

For stuff like that there is another ironworking trade called ornamental iron. They do fencing and other ornamental steel work. I'm a structural ironworker. I go up in the air and build buildings. But sometimes I do the decorative stuff, too. I work with the sheeting and gutters and trim, which are decorative. Sometimes buildings I construct will have fancy tops like a gazebo, or tin, colored or steel roofs that I'll build along with the structural elements.

I use spud wrenches and sleever bars. I use impact guns (air or electric) that tighten the bolts. Those are similar to the guns that take your tires off. They make that whirring sound. I also use a welder.

We always have harnesses on. We have lanyards that hook the harnesses to the building. We use retractable lanyards to stop us from going too far if we start falling. Sometimes we have nets for fall protection. There are a couple of safety tricks of the trade, too. For example, when it's icy, you can roll out a piece of carpet on a steep roof and it'll keep you from sliding.

Well, Daisy Dukes, tank tops, sandals, necklaces No, I wear work boots, jeans and a t-shirt or long sleeves, depending on the weather. When you're welding you definitely need to wear long sleeves. I also wear safety gloves, safety glasses, and a hardhat.

I'm in charge of deciding whether or not it's safe enough to work in the current weather conditions. If it's raining, you get the heck out of there. The workers need their paychecks, and I don't want to have to tell them to go home. But I also don't want to waste the boss's money for the day. In the winter you just accept a slower pace. Work slows down by about 50 percent. It's icy and potentially dangerous, so you just can't work as fast.

I also have to take care of my coworkers if an injury occurs—make sure they seek medical attention if they need it, and help them decide whether or not they should keep working for the day. Not too long ago, one of the guys got hurt on the job, and I drove him to the hospital. He had his hand where it shouldn't have been, and the load that we were moving with the crane caught it. His palm was slashed wide open. After an hour and forty-five minutes at the hospital and seventeen stitches later, we were back on the job.

You always have to have your eyes open in ironworking. It's very dangerous. Very fast-moving. It's teamwork. If you can reach a rhythm, you'll just be going and going and going.

I was working on an indoor soccer arena. The building was 500 feet long and approximately 250 feet wide. It had concrete walls, steel framing, a tin roof, and tin trim, gutters and downspouts. It had two soccer arenas inside, along with a little kids' arena, concession stand and locker rooms. Usually, I just put up the shell, but sometimes I get to see the inside completed. This time I got to see the finished interior and kick a few soccer balls into the net.

Three months.

The majority of the time, there were three people working on it. When you're working with a crane, you need five guys in the gang. You always have two people up in the air and two on the ground. That's called the raising gang. Then you have a detail gang that works after the iron's up. They fasten all the bolts and make sure everything's structurally sound. Sometimes you get sheeters who come in behind the detail gang; they roof and sheet the buildings and insulate them. Doing all of these tasks is typical in my line of work.

I spend 95 percent of my time outside. When the weather's really bad, we'll do the roof first and set the beams inside afterwards. We also work inside when buildings sheet the insides to protect the insulation or for a certain aesthetic appeal.

I started construction during high school doing aluminum siding and carpentry. Then I ran into a neighbor who had a business selling steel buildings, and he needed someone to help him out with manual labor on the buildings. Working for him, I met ironworkers and started helping them. Right away, I knew it was for me. I liked working with my hands. After I finished high school, I just kept working with the ironworkers and business agents I'd met through my experience working for my neighbor.

Now you complete a four-year apprenticeship. During the apprenticeship, you learn all the basics from rod-busting to bar joyce to pre-engineered ironworking. You make about $20 an hour. If you do well during those four years, you become a journeyman.

Tying rebar together for concrete. That's the steel you see workers put in bridges. The steel holds the concrete together and keeps it structurally sound.

Bar joyce is building buildings. That's the structural work that I do.

Pre-engineered work involves constructing buildings that are pre-manufactured. You put the whole thing together like a Lego set. In order to erect these buildings, you need to read and study drawings. This type of ironwork is my specialty.

The drawings are diagrams of how to assemble the building—they include the dimensions of the parts. You study the drawings in order to prepare for work the next day. I usually read the drawings on the job, but sometimes I'll bring them home to look over them. During an apprenticeship, you'll learn how to read drawings along with the manual work you'll practice. I learned how to read them by working in the field.

You need your high school diploma to start an apprenticeship program. College education is not required.

There aren't really different levels of jobs, but there are different areas of expertise. With more emphasis on specialization and use of new equipment, apprenticeship programs keep you up to date with the current demands of the profession. After an apprenticeship, you'll know how to work in different areas and will be able to find a job in any of the ironworking fields.

My boss owns the ironworking company. Contractors call him to see how much it would cost to hire our crew or how long it would take for each job. He pays the workers' salaries and makes money off the top for himself.

I suppose I could go on to be a superintendent, but I don't think I'll have to. After thirty years, I can retire with a full pension and annuity.

I wake up at 4:30 a.m. to make sure I can get to the jobsite on time. I start work at 7:00 a.m.

I usually have a pow-wow with the guys to talk about what we're doing first. Then we get to it. What we do first or what we do for the day depends on how far along we are on a project.

I get a 15 minute break and a half hour lunch. If I work over a ten-hour day, then I get an additional 15-minute break. I usually take my break at 9:30 a.m., so it doesn't seem like lunch is so far away. Lunch time is around noon.

Yes, I'd say so. There are few minor differences among employers. Some companies allow a 45-minute lunch.

Some of the other workers go out for lunch, but I'm a brown bag kind of guy. I usually sit in my truck to eat lunch. If it's nice out, I'll sit underneath a tree or in the grass somewhere on the jobsite.

I have been, because I'm a foreman. Not all the workers get trucks, but the majority of them do.

It's a utility bed truck—a Ford F350. The company pays for gasoline, and the company I work for also pays for my I-Pass for highway tolls. My truck has a welder, oxygen-acetalene (gases for torches), fire extinguishers, power tools, impact guns, drills, screw guns, and some other hand tools. I have to provide some of the smaller hand tools.

Definitely. I have to make sure everything is safe. When the workers leave, the building needs to be structurally sound. Nothing can get blown over or fall off overnight. I need to make sure no one gets hurt while I'm gone. And everything needs to be weather-proofed. We use the cardboard that the steel pieces come in to cover the buildings and protect it from the weather while we aren't on site.

The work changes daily. It's pretty much the same routine from building to building, but at least you're not doing the same thing everyday. Tasks happen in cycles. The weather also provides some variety. The temperature and conditions change, which, in turn, change how we work.

Apprenticeships probably start out at $20-22 an hour. I'm probably at about $40 an hour as a journeyman. It's hard physical labor, and if you don't work hard you won't work many hours because people won't hire you. I work 40 hours a week at least. For a Chicago ironworker, overtime is automatic double time. That's in our contract.

For the amount of time I work, they put away some of my salary that I'll receive come retirement—my pension. I also have an annuity worth even more than my pension. I'm able to invest my annuity in stocks in order to make my money work for me in my working years.

It's grown with the cost of living. We've had raises over the years. When I started, a journeyman probably made $28 an hour. Now I make about $40.

Yes. We usually have a new job lined up right after we finish one.

A good amount. Sometimes I drive 160 miles a day. Sometimes I only drive eight miles a day. It depends on the location of the jobsitehow close it is to home. My boss allows me to drive my truck home after work everyday so I don't have to make the extra trips to pick it up from the workshop in the morning or drop it off at night. Some companies don't allow this, which means you'd be driving even more each day.

I have to keep the gas cans filled, make sure I have all the tools I need. and bring water for the guys on the job. Sometimes I bring home drawings of worksites to study in preparation for the next day's labor.

That might be the problem with my job. It's not changing. It's still hard, long hours. It's great to always have a full-time job, but it's tough on the body.

It depends on the person. If you aren't motivated, your boss won't be motivated to keep you as an employee. As a rule, the job is less stable in the winter. During the colder months, it gets hard to keep guys working, because there are fewer buildings to work on. Nowadays, the non-union workers are getting more work, because they'll work for less money, which is also hard on those of us who are union members.

Three years ago I took my family on a trip to California and took a month off. I had to save money for the occasion. No vacation time is paid in construction.

Yes, not even union ironworkers receive vacation pay.

After thirty years of working in the union I can retire. I could take an early retirement, but I wouldn't get full benefits then.

I have disability insurance and compensation. The more drastic injuries receive more compensation.

I receive pension and annuity savings. I think I get health insurance for five years after I retire and then I have to pay for it on my own.

Excellent. They cover just about everything. There's a $100 deductible per family member, per year. Optometry, dental care and general physician care is included. You can choose any doctors on my insurance plan.

Satisfying for me is getting a lot of things done. A good day's work is incredibly satisfying. Frustrating is slipping and sliding and having to wear twice as many clothes in the winter. It's tough getting through a cold day.

I've suffered physically, sacrificing my body and my health. I've undergone surgery for work-related back problems. I had a back fusion. I compressed my spine during years of work and had to have surgery to fuse my bones together, which limited some natural movement. I was out for six months after my surgery. Even though the surgery helped my spine, I still feel pretty beaten up at all times.

I've had stitches in my hand and arms. I've also had burn marks from welding and torch work. Steel filings had to be drilled from my eyes. I've had two severely sprained ankles from falling. Once I slipped on the iron, fell and straddled a piece of steel. That was painful. It's a dangerous job.

Safety. It's getting better. Back in the olden days, you used to just go for it. Now safety is a bigger priority for employers and employees, and there are new, safer ways to execute tasks and better protective apparel.

I think that better safety precautions will protect newcomers from injuries. Safer also means slower, though. It takes longer to construct the buildings when we have to strap in and take time to use protective equipment.

My field is growing, but not growing enough for those involved in ironworking unions. Right-to-work states are prohibiting the field from growing as much as it could. Union workers are not getting as many jobs, because the non-union workers in right-to-work states work for less pay and no benefits. The economy also has a lot to do with it. When the economy is not faring well, the commercial industry isn't building many new things.

Technology is making things easier and faster. For example, new and improved welders work faster with fewer mistakes. Riveters aren't used any morenew fasteners are much easier, faster and more reliable.

I build all commercial buildings, warehouses, strip malls and shops—if the economy is good, there will be something to build.

Ironworkers are everywhere. As the saying goes: "Building America since 1896."

Don't abuse your body. Don't jump off buildings or stop wearing your safety equipment just because you think you're invincible. If you want to keep working in this profession, you need to take care of yourself

Knowledge of print-reading or welding is a plus. You'll learn how to do all tasks required during the apprenticeship, but a basic knowledge of tools will help. You can't be afraid of heights.

An ironworker has to be aggressive, hard-headed, cautious and motivated.

It's a good career, but it's tough work. Worry about your own specialty, not what everyone else is doing. Ironworkers are nosy and tend to gossip a lot. Keep your head in your own work.

You need to have some people skills, because you work with tradesman of all kinds: electricians, concrete layers, carpenters, etc. Sometimes you have to cooperate with these tradesmen. Ironworkers don't want people working underneath them when they are swinging large pieces of iron overhead with a crane, so they need to cooperate with the other people on the jobsite for safety reasons. As a foreman, I have to delegate responsibilities to the workers under me. I decide who does what by what they do well. You need basic math skills as well. We read tape rules and figure out square footage using multiplication and division. Sometimes we also calculate weight for steel loads on the cranes.