IUOE News Fall 2013

Member Profile
Kasper Mayer:
Keeping it Local, Keeping it Union
While legions of construction
workers often have to endure working
far away from their homes, families,
and their communities to earn a living,
Kasper Mayer believes it is possible to
beat the odds.
And he should know, as a 56-year
resident of the Kootenays and 50-year
member of the Operating Engineers
Local 115.
The now-retired heavy equipment
operator, former business representative
and elected board member, as well
as a health and welfare plan trustee for
the Local 115’s District 6 has acquired a
wealth of experience in the construction
sector—and all of it within driving
distance of his home.
“It’s possible to do. You need to be
multi-skilled and willing to take any
job,” says Mayer. “A lot of guys will get
a call from the union’s dispatch for a
34 News October 2013
three-day job and will turn it down,
waiting for the big six-month jobs to
come along. But sometimes that threeday
job turns out to be a year.”
Mayer adds, however, that a lot has
changed in the industry since he
started out in 1963 at the age of 23.
At that time, he was looking for a
career. His two older brothers—
Edward and the late Albert—were
Local 115
members and
encouraged
him to get into
trades, and the
union.
“Albert was a shovel operator and
Edward was an oiler (equipment
servicing),” he says. “They liked what
they were doing and earned a living
doing it, so I got interested.”
Mayer started off as a grademan,
reading engineer layout plans and
working with equipment operators to
check excavation levels to make sure
they were accurate. This was, and still
is, an especially important task in road
building projects, and ended up
becoming where he spent much of his
working career.
But Mayer also remembers how at
that time, training and union membership
were much less formal or
automated than today.
“This was before we had the OE
training plan,” Mayer says. “Then you
learned on the job, by the seat of your
pants, with the guidance of older
members. Either you got it or you got
out.”
Even joining the union wasn’t the
relatively straight-forward process it is
now. “In those days, you had to be
sponsored by a member to join the
union. You applied and then went to a
membership meeting. They all asked
you questions. Then they kicked you
out and had a vote on whether to let
you in” says Mayer.
After his hard-fought acceptance,
Mayer signed up to learn to operate a
scraper on a local road project. Soon
after, he was working on a variety of
jobs—road building, bridge work, and
BC Hydro projects, which he says were
a huge part of the construction scene in
the Kootenays
in the 1960s
and 70s. This
was in addition
to highway
work and later
building and expanding the major coal
mines in the region, such as the
Fording, Green Hills and Line Creek
facilities.
“When I got into the industry, there
was no Highway 3 from Castlegar on
(East). There was no Rogers Pass. All
we had were ferries and rail,” he recalls.
Working on these projects gave him
the chance to expand his knowledge of
equipment operating to bulldozers,
loaders and various types of cranes. It
also got him elected as a shop steward—
back then known by many as a
“Shoppy”—on many jobs.
Becoming a Shoppy is what led
Mayer to run for a position on the
District 6 board in 1980. He continued
to work as an equipment operator and
steward until he was offered a staff
position as a business rep in 1983.
Mayer accepted the job, albeit with
some reservation, as his duties would
include advocating and assisting Local
115 members outside the construction
sector, especially since workers at some
of the mines had joined the local as
well.
“I worked in construction, so I felt
good about being a rep for
“Back then you learned on the
job, by the seat of your pants, with
the guidance of older members.
Either you got it or you got out.”