b"It was more organized. You didn't have to chase after people. My salary at that time was $1,200 a year. What were the benefits of union membership in 1952 to you? Why did you join the union?You mean, Why did I join? When you become unionized, you're more together. That's the most important thingI could say, because on a job like we had, you had to be unionized. If a maintenance man had a job to do and he wasn'tsure of the tenants that he was going to perform the job with, he would take a caretaker or anyone to substantiatebecause at that time there were keys that could go to the apartment and people were different when you make an entryinto the apartment. So you would go with the maintenance man, and the maintenance man would put your name on thework ticket. So, it was more together. In other words, they were coming together. Everyone was friendly, people workedwith the union.Did you go to union meetings when you first joined the union?Sometimes I couldn't get there. In fact, I didn't even know where Gold Street was. I lived in the Bronx. When I came out ofthe service in 1945, my wife had moved to the Bronx, so I moved there, too. Originally I was from Harlem. But, hey, the subwaywas a nickel then, or ten cents. Sometimes we didn't have the ten cents because when the city paid you they paid on the 1stand the15th. Sometimes the 15th would come on a Saturday, so we didn't get the money. You'd have to wait until Monday.It was on the 1st and the 15th no matter when it fell. It was hard. Definitely. If the 1st fell on a holiday, you didn't work.I worked in Bronxdale Houses. 1020 Soundview Avenue. I'll never forget that. Hy Katz was the superintendent.A real nice fellow. Rosalie Mayer was the manager. I remember that. They were two beautiful people. I worked underHyman Katz. One of the best superintendents. That's why I stayed on the job, because like I said, the money was low.He was so nice. Then the Housing Authority, they gave a little leeway, too, because you got three days every month thatyou could put on annual leave, accumulated time, whatever it was. It was just nice to work with him.Did everyone know each otherthe different titles?There was caretaker X, there was caretaker J. Carl Haynes lived at Soundview, off of Soundview Avenue. I think hewas a housing assistant. John Toumbacaris lived there also, I think. This has been so long.Wait a minuteyou had HyKatz, Rosalie Mayer, then you had Sol Maged. He was the district manager in the Bronx. He was a nice fellow. He justmade the job nice for everyone. Those are the people we had to contact, like the caretaker x, caretaker j, maintenanceman, whatever you wereActually, you dealt with the superintendent. Eventually, Tom Leath became the I workedunder him, but which job I worked in I can't remember. He was a nice fellow. I worked with Tom Leath.It sounds to me like it was like family.It was like a family.Did people stay together outside the job?Yes. Usually, when you transferred to another jobWhen Hy Katz left Soundview, I had worked with himhe went toanother jobI think he went to Monroe Houses. I told him, Hey, take me along.12 "