Kuane Smith
Carpenter
Member of the Carpenter's Union, Local 327

Dearborn Next staff talked with Kuane in early October. Read the interview below to learn more about how Kuane figured out his current path. Kuane is happy to connect with fellow alumni and offer support as you navigate your next steps! If you'd like to connect, reach out to Chelsea Voake, cvoake@bpe.org, and she'll put you two in touch.

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What are you up to now, and how did you get to this point?

Right now, I am working with my step-father who owns his own construction company. I’m still working with him now instead of at the carpentry union because I’m waiting for interest rates to go down so then jobs can open up so then I can start working at the carpentry union. I got accepted, and I have my letter of acceptance, but I’m just waiting for jobs to open up, and then I’ll officially start working with The Union, Local 327

 

How I got there was around my sophomore year – even before then – I’ve been doing all types of construction things, including with my step-father, and also little side things – just to help around the house. My sophomore summer I went to Haley and Aldrich. They taught me a little bit of architecture and construction management. Because that’s what they focused on with me, I got my OSHA 30 from them. That was very helpful because that’s the best OSHA training you can get. When I put that on my resume, that really helped me stand out from all the people trying to get into the Union alongside me – you know, it made my resume look pretty.

 

My senior year, I went to work with YouthBuild and they helped me get 3 certifications: my Harness Hazards Certificate, My OSHA 10, and one more thing. Working with them helped me get an extra boost to get an acceptance letter from the union. They were able to write recommendations for me and stuff like that. Another thing, when Ms. Morissette was at the school, she took me to The Greenhouse, and that’s where a lot of small business owners work, and I was able to go with her and network and get my name out there and really meet and greet people. And that’s really all I did. Everything that I knew that would help me with getting into the carpentry union I just did, because, you know, you got to build up to it. You can’t just jump and go. You have to take it step by step and get as much experience as you can – pre-apprenticeship and stuff like that – once they see you have some kind of experience, that’s the things they want to see.

 

Can you say more about the interest rates? How does that keep you from getting jobs in the union?

The union can’t tell me too much about how that stuff is run, but from what they told me – interest rate is what helps people buy more buildings. People that want more buildings and complexes – that’s how they’re able to build it and pay us. But if the rate is too high, not a lot of people want to pay people to work. Because of that, they’re laying a lot of people off – not necessarily firing people – but telling people you can’t work for a couple months or a year for now.

 

How long does your acceptance letter last? Will you have to reapply?

The letter says that it’s good for only a year and after a year, you’re going to have to reapply. But, I feel like the second year you try to reapply won’t really be as hard or as difficult as it was the first time. The first time, you have to go to the information session and this and that and the third, but to re-apply you just call people and say you got an invitation last year. I don’t think you even have to interview.

 

This first time around, I had to go to an interview, then I had to take a drug test. In the middle of those two things, I had to wait a few weeks. It was a 2-3 month process to just get there. I’m not 100% sure, but based on what I think and since I already got accepted, all I’ll have to do is take the drug test, and then I’ll get back on the list.

 

How will you know when work becomes available?

That’s going to be the hardest part – they will never reach out to you. They say call back a month or two from now. In my opinion, if you’re really eager to get a job in the union, you should call every week. Sometimes they’ll tell you to wait a month, but then next week the rates drop, but you’ll never know because you can’t look that up for construction – you can see that for businesses, but it’s different for the construction union – you can’t just look that up. My suggestion is you should call the union at least once every two weeks, not once a month to ask for jobs. Me, personally, I do it every week!

 

What was your process for getting into the union – from, “I’m interested in this!” to “Here’s my acceptance letter!”

The very beginning of my entrance into this type of work was super long ago – second or first grade, my grandmother taught me a few things. From then on, I always loved to work with my hands. Me, personally, I’ve always been interested in construction. For someone who hasn’t always, my first suggestion is to do as many programs to get as many certificates as you can. Because the more certificates you have, the better. Then the union will really know how much experience you have and they like people like that because they can use you as the example in the classes. That’s what really helped me stand out from the crowd: my two OSHAs and my Hazard Safety Certificate. Their number one is safety – that’s why on job sites you can’t have your phone out. The moment they see you with your phone out, they send you home. I was working at YouthBuild and as soon as someone took out their phone – up high or on a ladder – it was, “Get down, and go home.” At YouthBuild, they hooked us up with a top OSHA person – he was very good and was telling my group all about the stories about how people would use their phone and lose a finger. From that day forward, they want to make sure that nobody uses their phones because they don’t want to send anybody home with a missing finger. In my opinion, just do as many programs and internships as you can that will help you get certificates.

 

How do you navigate the no-phone rule with your personal life? 

Obviously, you can take your phone out to check the time. You can’t be on social media, you can’t sit down in the corner and go on TikTok while you’re trying to build something – you can’t be on a ladder. But you can get down safely from the ladder, if it’s an emergency. If you’re on a 10 story building, you have to get down and walk off the site. Or, you can go to a porta potty and use the phone there – only if it’s an emergency.

 

Did you have to do anything differently to preview with your loved ones that you wouldn’t be using your phone during work?

Not really – it’s the same as school. Teachers were not lying when they said you could not use your phone. Especially at construction – things can really go bad for you. Once you get into the union or on the field, you’re going to instinctively not want to touch your phone because you’re always going to be busy. You’re barely going to have time to even grab your phone – you’re always going to be doing something with your hands. You can’t do something with one hand. At school, you can write with one hand, but you’re going to need two hands to put up studs, lay down concrete. By the time you do look at your phone, it’s already lunch time.

 

Are you finding your work rewarding? Why or why not?

I like to be able to say, “I built this.” Because I’m working with my stepfather where we do things locally, we do things for the local folks – people who live in the area. It makes me feel good when I see they love the work we’re doing. I put a smile on their face. On top of that, they’re paying me a lot of money. The work’s not cheap, the material’s not cheap. It’s a good feeling when they tell me they like the work I’m doing, and the pay is good.

 

How is the pay?

Minimum for the union it’s $22. Depending on how skilled you really are, you might start off at $25. Then each year, it goes up $2.50 or $3.00. So either way, if you start at $22, after 4 years of working at a union, you’re going to be making roughly $32, and you can look it up, too. Each union is obviously different. For the carpentry union, they have a chart you can look up from when you start and end and past that.

 

Where do you see yourself in 2029, 6 years after your high school graduation?

I want to still be in the carpentry union but at that time, I want to branch out from my step-father's company, and I want to be able to do my own thing. I want to be able to do plumbing and carpentry. You can make $300 for fixing someone’s sink. Or close to $1,000 for fixing a toilet or leak, and then you got to patch it back up with sheetrock and plaster. So you can make close to $1000 for a single job. The more you know, the better. If you’re aiming to be your own boss, you got to know more than one thing. Working with my step-dad, he knows everything. My manager also knows everything. They do electricity, plumbing – that means we run pipe and wire and we obviously do carpentry and tiling, too. We do literally everything. And sometimes we do roofing, too. Maybe three weeks ago, I was just on the roof – I was laying down rubber and patching a hole in the roof. I was up on a 40 foot ladder. I was probably 60-70 feet in the air, working. 

 

What’s your long-term goal?

To still be in the union, but also on the weekends, I want to own my business. My long, long term goal is to be able to move back to my home country – Bermuda. I want to be able to have my own house there. And in case I want to stay there for a year or two, I want to be able to stay there and still make money off of doing local work. That’s my dream right there. 

 

Is there anything else you'd like to share that people should know?

One thing that I would like to share is that construction is not everyone. For instance, sometimes it can be tedious. You might have to go and do something you don’t really like to do. Like last week, Friday, I had to do painting and caulking. I hate painting and caulking because it’s very messy – you have to get low and certain spots, and it’s very uncomfortable. You have to do a lot of crouching and bending over – it might hurt your back. You have to learn how to position yourself so you don’t hurt yourself on the job. Just because you have a sore back or thumb, they’re going to expect you there at 6:30 AM sharp. You can’t be a late person, you have to be an early bird. Even if they tell you the job site starts at 7:30 AM, you gotta be there early. The latest you can do is 15 minutes earlier. That hits some people hard – not everyone is an early person.

 

Was this a big adjustment for you?

I’ve been working with my stepfather since 8th or 9th grade, so I had a few years to adjust to it. Now, when I wake up, I have to go and work. In my opinion, I feel like I’ve always been an early person. Once I wake up, I’m up. I feel like that is something you have to train your body into getting into. Also, if you do show up late on job sites, they lay you off. They say don’t come back here and work – go find another job to do. They are very very strict.