A Milwaukee Father and Son on How Union Work Changed Their Lives
October 4, 2023
By Isabel Soisson
Levar Wilson Sr. knows what a union can provide.
The 45-year-old Milwaukee resident has spent the past 22 years working in the skilled trades, working his way up from being a paid apprentice to a union glazier installing aluminum, glass, mirrors, doors, and handrails in buildings—“basically anything that had to do with glass on a commercial level.”
Working in the trades changed his life, Wilson Sr. said.
It taught him solidarity and helped him understand what it’s like to be a part of a brotherhood. He says he and his colleagues accept each other, flaws and all. They share advice, rely on each other, and have come to know each other’s families.
Most importantly, being a union worker in the trades is not just a job.
“It’s a career,” Wilson Sr. said.
