Tunnel Vision

-Patricia R. Bauer

AFSCME C13

Adjacent to Heinz Field, workers involved in the North Shore Connector Project are the Michelangelo’s of underground construction – chipping, blasting and digging away at their creation.  When asked about the tunnels, every worker -- whether it’s an electrician, an iron worker, an operator, or a carpenter -- steps back with humble pride to describe the incredible work of art they have created together.

Taking the trek 65 ft. below the surface can be surreal. “It’s almost like working in a mine,” said Greg Vogt, IBEW Local 5 Business Agent.  Unlike the drudgery of mine work; however, these modern day “miners” have taken underground construction to a whole new level.  The end result is an absolute pristine environment designed for green and efficient transportation.

Thanks to labor, the Steel City is on its way to becoming better connected, but the tunnel workers already are.  “We’re like family,” said Rebecca Vettorel the only female bore operator on this project. But Vettorel just wants to be treated like everybody else.  “I’m here to do a job,” she said.  And after a 4-year union training program and 4,000 field hours, that’s just what she does.  “If it wasn’t for the Union I wouldn’t be here. Today everybody is pushed to go to college and not everybody wants to do that.”

Senior Project Engineer, Mark J. Mitchell would agree.  “I can’t imagine a better way to make a living than to be outside building something,” said Mitchell.  “I thought about going into design…an office job…but I knew I wouldn’t make it. I need to be outside.”

And Pittsburgh’s lucky to have him – and the 160 other personnel dedicated to this project.  Just like college isn’t for everyone – facing Mother Nature every day would be brutal for most of us.  Freezing temperatures, heat exhaustion; fatigue; trouble starting equipment in sub-zero weather; aches and pains – it’s all part of the game.

But unlike their mighty Steelers who just took their first victory next door to the site, the role of tunnel workers in rebuilding Pittsburgh isn’t just under the ground – it’s under the radar.  “People take it for granted,” said Vettorel.  “They drive on roads and look at buildings and schools…that stuff doesn’t just appear.  Somebody has to build it.” 

Let’s hope when Pix-burgers take that first light rail ride in 2011 that American labor won’t be taken for granted.  Like Michelangelo before them, let’s hope the “tunnel vision” of Vettorel, Mitchell, Vogt, Marnhout, Gillespie, Sapp, and all the other tunnel artists, will be truly admired for generations to come.