Photo by Tom Jenz
Construction zone on Lincoln Ave. in Milwaukee
Construction zone on Lincoln Ave. in Milwaukee
Milwaukee was once a premiere example of American manufacturing, urban areas dominated by productive factories that shaped the city’s identity and economy. From the mid-19th century through much of the 20th century, Milwaukee was a hub of industry, renowned for its breweries, machine shops, and later, its prowess in heavy manufacturing.
The city’s manufacturing roots can be traced back to its early German immigrants, who established small breweries and workshops in the 1840s. By the late 1800s, Milwaukee had emerged as a major brewing center, home to giants like Pabst, Schlitz, Blatz, and Miller. This industrial boom was bolstered by the establishment of the Milwaukee Road, a railroad that moved goods and raw materials, further solidifying the city’s position as an economic powerhouse.
As the 20th century began, the city's factories produced everything from machine tools, electrical appliances, and automotive components, with companies like Allen-Bradley and Kearney & Trecker leading the way. The post-World War II era saw a peak in manufacturing jobs. With the aid of labor unions, the city drew factory and construction workers who contributed to a vigorous middle class.
Milwaukee had always been a union town with blue collar workers earning good wages from industrial giants like AO Smith, Allis Chalmers, Briggs & Stratton, Allen Bradley, American Motors, Bucyrus Erie and the breweries. By the 1950s and ‘60s, front line workers had joined labor unions to gain better working conditions. There were machinists, carpenters, welders, plumbers, bricklayers, and electricians.
However, the rise of globalization and the advent of technology transformed the landscape of American manufacturing. Milwaukee, like many industrial cities, faced a monumental challenge as companies sought cheaper labor overseas, and automation began to replace human workers. The decline of the American steel industry and the consolidation of the automotive sector hit Milwaukee particularly hard, resulting in plant closures and significant job losses.
The Changing Economy
By the 1990s and beyond, the city’s manufacturing sector had shrunk dramatically. The once-thriving factories that had defined Milwaukee’s skyline were either abandoned or repurposed. The cultural fabric of the city began to shift as well, with a growing emphasis on service industries, healthcare, and education.
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Workers had always joined trade unions who had protected them against job loss, but if there were no jobs, none were left to lose.
Today, Milwaukee is a city in transition, grappling with the legacy of its manufacturing past. While the industry remains a vital part of the local economy, it no longer holds the same prominence. Efforts to revitalize the city focus on construction and technology, yet the echoes of its manufacturing days linger in the memory of its residents. Milwaukee’s population has dropped from 741,324 in 1960 to 577,222 in 2020.
In the last few years, construction has been on the rise, buildings going up that specialize in tech and warehousing, restructured roads and highways. Meanwhile, many young adults have become disillusioned with the college experience. Earn a degree in something, and you may end up working as a wait staff or buried in government.
Dan Bukiewicz is the long time president of the Milwaukee Building & Construction Trades Council. “We are looking to find people who want to make careers in the trades,” he told me. “We are doing more career fairs in high schools. We are also getting more people who have had a couple jobs and are looking for better pay and a new career. There is a fraternal brotherhood to the trades. It’s like the military. If you are Navy veteran, you are Navy forever. If you are an electrician, you are an electrician forever. As for Milwaukee, there is a building boom, housing, office buildings, data centers. I expect this to go on for at least ten years.”
And so I went looking for those workers who are making careers in the trades with help of labor unions.
Samuel Lohry Electrician, 21
Since the 8th grade, I always wanted to be an electrician because electricity makes everything work. You flip a switch and the lights go on. At Slinger High School, I was an average student. I learned more by doing than sitting in a classroom. I worked on farms throughout my high school career. One farmer I worked for had been a steamfitter for 35 years. In July of 2021, he helped me get into a CW-1 pre-apprentice program for the Staff Electric Company. I was learning the electrician trade at Staff Electric, but I did not pass my apprentice exam in the first year, but I did get an hourly raise as a CW-2. I failed the apprentice exam again, but I became a CW-3 and got another raise up to $24 per hour.
In my third try this past summer, I passed the apprentice exam and became an apprentice. I am also getting paid to go to school to learn electrical code theory and the concepts of being an electrician. Currently, I am working on fire alarms at Marquette University for a wellness and recreation facility. In school, I am learning DC circuits, and fire alarms have DC circuits. I am learning on the job.
Electrician is one of the higher paying construction trades. It’s because we have to know a lot, which I treat as a challenge. In the Electrician Brotherhood, Milwaukee Electrical Union Local 494, we take a lot of pride in our work. We are the first ones on the job and the last ones to leave. Working anything over 40 hours per week, we get overtime. The union makes sure everything stays orderly. At Staff Electric, we have a general foreman and two project foremen, who tell the journeymen what to do, and the journeymen tell us apprentices what to do, but we can always ask questions.
If somebody asks me how I am doing on a job, I always say, “I’m livin’ the dream.”
Ashley Szeda, Laborer, 36
I got married young to an Army man. We lived in Alaska and Texas. It was a bad marriage, and we broke up, and I came back to Milwaukee. Along the way, I earned two college degrees, a BA in project management and an AA in health information technology. I had to get a good paying job. I had two kids to support. Now I have three kids. I am part Indian, Potawatomi. Ten years ago, I joined the union after I passed the test and got my first job as an apprentice with Mortenson Construction.
I’ve been working construction jobs for these past 10 years, classified as a laborer. I started at $21 an hour, which was good pay back then. I went through 4,000 working hours and 400 training hours. After two years, I became classified as a journeyman, earning full scale pay. Now I make $38 an hour. I’ve been with C.D. Smith Construction for most of my career.
I can do concrete construction, traffic control, rigging, flagging and multiple cleanups. I operate forklifts, boom lifts, and VisiLifts. When you see a construction site, we are the ones putting in the footings, the parking structures, the ramps, and doing it all from the ground to the finish. I like the day-to-day variety. I am in the construction trades, but I also work closely with every other trade, so I kind of know most of the trades. Currently, I am working on the Microsoft Building construction in Mt Pleasant. One of the bigger profile jobs right now.
For most laborers, we can have slow periods, but I haven’t had one for a while. Work might get slow in the winter. Usually happens to carpenters or ironworkers. Then, you get maximum unemployment, and you get on a list to be called back when a construction firm has a job. I own two houses, and I own my car. The union works for you.
Jonathon Barba-Lopez, Carpenter, 18
When I was 16, I found out I was having a baby, a son. I was in high school but living a bad life, walking a bad path and had bad influences. I was depressed, I didn’t like school. I was skipping school, Washington Park High School. I am Hispanic, Latino. I grew up in Racine but now I live in Milwaukee.
I was 16, about to be a father, and I needed a job. With the help of a man named Milton from the Big Step program, I enrolled in the WRTP/Big Step Racine Summer Trades Program. They sent us students out to local union halls and trades around the area. I learned in depth what a job in the trades looked like. This opened my eyes. I wanted to get into the trades. My dad and brother work in the trades. Carpentry was my chosen path. With the help of our school’s youth apprentice coordinator, I got a job as a carpenter’s youth apprentice at VJS Construction. I was still in high school. They worked around my school hours. I’d work on the construction site real early each morning, then go to school for two hours, and then I came back to finish the day on the construction job.
I graduated from high school early. Then, I joined the union at the Carpenter’s Union Hall, Local 231. I made the bridge to a registered apprentice. Right away, I got a raise and qualified for benefits. Each month, I earn a little more per hour. I have been working for VJS Construction for over a year.
The union stands for “united.” We call the carpenters union. a brotherhood. We are united to get what we deserve. My family gets health insurance, retirement savings, and a separate bank system, the Carpenters Credit Union. I am now 18 years old. My family can now say they are proud of me. I am even a leader in my church.
Carshella Porter, Laborer, 36
I grew up in Milwaukee and graduated from Bradley Tech High School in 2006 with a degree in Manufacturing. I wanted to get into construction. But I got a track scholarship to Mankato State. I got my undergrad degree in Health Promotion and my master’s degree in adult education. I ended up working in administration at Madison Area Technical College in Madison for seven years, but I moved back to Milwaukee, and then I got into the construction trades. I had a son, and my family was here. I now have two children, 13 and 3.
To get into the trades, I went into the WRTP Big Step program. I took a number of tests and qualified for almost all the trades. I was interested in carpentry, but I ended up as a laborer. The union gave me a list of different contractors. My first job was for Blattner Energy on a solar farm job, lasted six months, but we got laid off due to winter. Now I work in the building trades for Mortenson Construction. Been here a year and a half. We are doing a job for Froedtert Hospitals, the new tower in front of the main entrance.
I started as an apprentice, good pay. Every 1000 hours, you get a raise. My next phase will be as a journeyman, high end of $37 an hour, much better than working at a college. I pay union dues each month, but it isn’t much.
As a Black female, I get a lot of encouragement on the job. I am kind of a role model for people who want to join the trades.
The Union helps us if we get laid off. They put us on an out of work list and let us know when a job opens up. We can file for unemployment.
Union Leaders Speak
Later, I consulted Pam Fendt, the Milwaukee Area Labor Council’s president. She told me, “We have a curriculum called Common Sense Economics, which explains the positive roles labor unions play in the economy and why we need more unions to make sure work and wages are fair. We support diversity—the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists, the Labor Council for Latin America Advancement, and the Pride at Work chapter. All our work is about solidarity.”
Former AFL-CIO president, Richard Trumka, once spoke about the value of construction jobs, “When we invest in construction and infrastructure, we’re not just building roads and bridges; we’re building a better future for workers and their families.”
