There would be times where they just want something that costs a dollar,
but a dollar was like a stretch.
Going from $15 an hour, eight hours a week to actually having some type of
consistency definitely changed everything for me.
My name is Memesha Davis.
I'm a structural ironworker with Local 40, and I'm looking forward to
making over $100k this year.
I grew up in New York in Brooklyn, was born and raised in the projects.
My grandparents raised me.
I was making absolutely nothing.
No, I believe it was $15 an hour, but it wasn't a guaranteed 40 hours at
the Barclays Center. So I know prior to starting ironwork, I made maybe
$13,000 for the year.
Raising kids on that budget was, it was painful because there would be
times where they just want something that costs a dollar, but a dollar was
like a stretch.
It was just like a look of just disappointment on their faces.
And, you know, being a single mom and trying to provide for your children
as best as you can, it takes a toll on you daily.
NEW was definitely a life-changer.
It definitely gave me back my confidence.
And since then, I went from "I can't" to "I know I can." And I was just
like, "A free MetroCard AND a free training program?
Count me in!" Even a trade course is
expensive. So to get this type of knowledge for free, I was just amazed.
I remember coming to the school and taking a tour and I was like, oh, my
goodness, is this for me?
Because I'm an adrenaline junkie.
And when you walk into the crane shed, you know, you see this big column,
you have these torch booths, you have the welding booths, and I'm just
like, oh, my gosh, OK.
I went from running around making sure that everyone is working and now
there's an apprentice working for me and I'm just like, "Wow!" It feels
great to not, you know, "Mesha, Mesha, Mesha." Now it's like, "Hey, can
you grab that for me, please?"
You know? So that was the turning point.
I was like, wow, I'm really not an apprentice anymore.
To go from $13,000 a year to $100,000 a year, it is
a drastic change.
Just the benefits that I receive from ironwork, you know, the health
benefits. When I first started ironwork, I was probably maybe
two months in and I get a call during my lunch break and my
doctor told me that, you know, I had stage one of
cervical cancer.
I remember just breaking down and crying at that moment and my general
foreman, my shop steward, my foremen, all these guys were like, "Whatever
you need, we're here for you." This is like a family that I never thought
I would have. I finished my last treatment with
chemo in February of 2018, and I've been cancer-free since.
Now, I have a pension to look forward to when I do retire.
They have a scholarship fund for my kids.
Being able, not to say yes to everything, because I don't want you to think
I spoil my kids, but not saying no all the time
definitely takes so much pressure off my shoulders.
That's the fight that we're in right now, so people hear $100K and they
think, "Oh my gosh, you can really live off of that." We live in New York
City. It's comfortable.
But, you know, the demand that we do have on the job, no one would want to
do that. I don't care how much money you put on that.
If you're scared of heights, you won't do it.
If you're afraid of missing limbs and fingers or falling, you won't do it.
I'm not saying I'm not afraid of falling.
I am, because that's definitely a precaution that you have to have on any
job that you do. That is a hazardous condition.
$100K sounds like a lot, like, "Oh, wow, you really don't do anything."
We do a lot for that money.
This is the World Trade Center and a lot of these guys I worked with today.
Like, he's a walking boss, he's a walking boss, they're connectors in
this picture. Connectors, they put these pieces together, so they're the
ones that put the Legos together. A normal day on the job is first me
trying to convince myself to get out of bed, especially when it's cold
outside. I get to work around like 6:00, 6:30.
So walking up the stairs, that's probably the most tiring part of my day.
7:30 we start work.
Today, for instance, it was windy today.
We have to bring a torch upstairs.
We have to cut pieces out so that the plumbers and the steamfitters, they
can put their pipes through certain holes that still have our pieces of
steel through it. There's me and another journeyman.
So one of us is burning, one of us has the fire watch.
As a fire watch, you're standing there making sure nothing catches fire
around you and fire watching in the cold is horrible.
You try to find anything to keep warm.
Some like jumping jacks doing push ups off the wall.
It's just everything to try to stay warm.
The men definitely show respect.
Even if they don't, you do have the other guys that will put them in check
real quick. We wrap up around 3:00 and we leave around 3:30, 3:40.
There were times where I walk up, I'm like, I can't do that.
And then it's just like, you can do anything you put your mind to.
I'm like, you know what?
You're right. I remember working at One Vanderbilt and looking across
the way and seeing the Chrysler Building and I'm like, "Wow, I'm making
history, but I'm also looking at history." And, you know, there's a lot of
guys that I work with, they're grandfathered in, you know, like their
grandfather's been doing it.
And I'm like, you're amazing.
Like, "You were just made for this."
But I'm the first one in my family to ever do anything in this field as far
as any trade.
So, you know, I feel like I'm making history of my own and my kids, I'm
all supportive of them, following in my footsteps.
But I do want them to make their own choice as to what it is that they
want to do.