2012 Iron Workers/IMPACT North American Labor-Management ...

T his
An Ironworker Famil�
by William Sullivan, Retired First General Vice President
is a story about an ironworking family covering
several generations and a bridge built
honoring one of its members. Robert Taylor became
a member of Iron Workers Local 3 (Pittsburgh) in
1919 and retired in 1959. He was respectfully referred
to as an “old timer.” Bob and his wife Sarah had eleven
children, six boys and five girls. Three of the boys, Jack,
Matt, and Donn became ironworkers. Jack, the eldest, became
a member of Iron Workers Local 3 in 1941. He was
killed in 1956 while working at the trade in an accident
at the Westinghouse Plant in Large, Pennsylvania. Matt
became a member of Iron Workers Local 3 in 1942. He
worked at the trade until he was elected president of the
local. After serving a term as president, he was elected
business agent. Upon leaving the job as business agent,
George Meany, president of the AFL-CIO, appointed Matt
as special assistant. In 1969, Iron Worker General President
Jack Lyons appointed Matt a general organizer and
assigned him to the New England District Council. He
was elected general vice president in 1973, re-elected in
1976 and 1981, and retired in 1986. Donn became a member
of Iron Workers
Local 3 in 1957. He is
the present day owner
28-year old Century
Steel Erectors.
Century Steel is the
largest employer of
ironworkers in Local
3’s jurisdiction. Donn
and his wife Pat were
blessed with six children,
five girls and a
boy. Three of the girls
Darlene, Debbie, and
Diane are not walking
steel beams, but
are employed in the
steel erection business
as employees
of Century Steel.
Donn’s son John R.
Taylor, commonly referred
to as J.R., or
the “Dude,” became of
member of Local 3 in
1978. With a small of amount of nepotism and a large
amount of talent, J.R. became the field superintendent
of Century Steel. J.R. had a huge personality to match
the huge responsibility of his job. Life at times is cruel,
and J.R. was killed in a tragic home-related accident. His
death devastated his family, which resulted in a family
determination to memorialize his life. On September 4,
2011, the family determination became reality, and the
J.R. Taylor Memorial Bridge breathed life in a dedication
ceremony before a large overflowing crowd assembled
at the bridge site. Entombed in the steel gardens of that
bridge are his parents’ sorrow, his sisters’ idolization,
the love and respect of his fellow ironworkers, all of the
sweat-breaking man-hours donated by the ironworkers
to build the bridge, seven years of fundraising, and all
of the demoralizing and heartbreaking setbacks that occurred.
The J.R. Taylor Memorial Bridge will be a forever
monument to the all too short life of J.R. and a major
convenience to the general public of Allegheny County.
While not a traditional love story, the story has all the
ingredients of what love stories should be all about.
MARCH 2012 15