My late grandfather Frank Houlihan was an Iron Worker who fell to his death while working on a building in 1916, leaving behind my dad, (who was 12 at the time) and dad’s two older cop brothers.
If there had been an Iron Workers union then it would have been a different story, especially for my grandmother and her three sons.
Mary Gardiner the Matriarch
My friend John Gardiner, President/Business Manager of Local #1 of the International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental, and Reinforcing Iron Workers Union tells me, “There was absolutely no protections. There was poor pay, long working hours. Before the union was formed, death was just a regular part of the trade and it was expected. And that’s really the reason our union became what it was, because 20 guys got together in Chicago. And they formed The Bridgeman’s Mutual Aid Association to provide for each other in case of a death, a decent burial. So that’s really how the union came into existence.”
In the “city of big shoulders” the Irishmen in the trades built it all back up after the Great Chicago Fire. We owe a debt of gratitude to those Irish immigrant Iron Workers, carpenters, plumbers, bricklayers, and stone masons who resurrected the “city that works” They made ‘em tough in those days. They still are today.
John Gardiner Iron Worker
John tells me one of those guys was “My father Thomas Gardiner (1928-2016). He came from a life of poverty in Lisdoonvarna, County Clare. Born in a stone constructed building on a farm and raised in a home without indoor plumbing or any comforts at all, he dreamt of coming to America. He left home as a teenager and made his way to Chicago. Through nothing but hard work and perseverance he established himself as a proud member of Iron Workers Local #1. He went on to marry my mother and have 13 children, and 48 grandchildren at the time of his passing in 2016.”
Mr. & Mrs. Gardiner
John is the middle child, “So, yeah, I have six older than me and six younger than me; four older sisters, four younger sisters, two older brothers, two younger brothers.”
John started his first job at the age of 13, working on the maintenance crew of Holy Cross Catholic HS. “We literally worked our way through high school, relieved our family of any monetary burden for all our tuition.”
John worked his first summer as an Iron worker when he was 19 and learned the trade. “Iron workers have had their hands on every building built in downtown Chicago since the Chicago fire. I’m very proud of that.”
Joey, Amelia, Peter, John, Lora, and John Gardiner
For 22 years John walked the beams above the skyscrapers over ninety floors up, swinging an eight-pound sledgehammer and firing up an acetylene torch to weld together the American dream.
He was elected President of the union back in 2023. Four brothers and his son Joey are all union Iron workers, along with cousins and nephews in the trade as well. “It’s a brotherhood. It’s in the bloodstream for sure!”
John will be honored in September at the Irish Echo Labor Awards in New York City. He’s giving all credit for his success to the women in his life, his lovely wife Lora and his mother Mary, the matriarch. “Huge shout out to my mother!”
Just another day at the office for John
Lately there’s been scuttlebutt about young people forgoing college for the trades, and John sees logic in that. He has good advice for the apprentice Iron workers.
“I tell the young guys if they’re not giving you a nickname you don’t like, or busting your balls, or sending you for a tool that doesn’t exist-those are compliments, they show that they’re having fun with you and they’re teaching you some things. And they’re the future of our local.”
John is proudest of his family, his sons and daughter and his wife Lora. They first met when John was working the door at Doc Ryan’s pub and checking for fake IDs. “She was too pretty to turn away.”
A whole lotta Gardiners
He says the best advice he can give is: “Never let another person’s negativity or poor work ethic drag you down. Be true to what you know is right. Hard work, and a good attitude, especially eagerness to learn, will sustain you throughout your career.”
John says that when he hears folks exclaim at the beauty of Chicago’s skyline he smiles and just says “Thank you!”
Along with his family, and the union brotherhood, John’s cousin Jim is Chicago’s 45th Ward Alderman. Yes, the Gardiners are “kickin’ ass” in Chicago.
