b'Harlem River Section, who I met at the union meetings. There was one main person with the unionI dont remember hisnamewho went around to different locations with people who worked on the bridges, who were familiar with the work,and they spoke to us.Things got better with 237I was raw at that time and I didnt know much about these things. I knew very little about unionizing. I went alongwith the flow, more or less. But I wised up and realized what was the better deal. 237 was good, and they did good by usover the years.They took a vote and 237 won. After 237 won the election to represent us, things got a lot better. We got fresh, refrigerated, bottled water; we had screens put on the windows; we got upscaled quarters with lockers. Things that madeworking conditions a lot better. We got wage increases. At one time we got paid every 15 days, twice a month; that waschanged. Also, if I remember right, our workweek got cut to 40 hours. Later wegot the dues checkoff, right from the paycheck. We got more civil service exams; Before 237 came, thewhen vacancies existed, the union called for an exam to get people promoted. supervisor pushed youThe union made a big difference in the long run. around. If you werent inBefore 237 came, the supervisor pushed you around. If you werent in favorwith him, he would send you to a distant location or to a bridge that you werent favor with him, he wouldhappy with. When the union came in, we established seniority rules, we were send you to a distantable to pick our location when a vacancy existed. This was a big thing. location or to a bridgeBefore the union came, the supervisor would appoint someone to be incharge someone he had worked with for a while, usually an older gentleman. that you werent happyBut when 237 came in we actually established official titles, such as bridgewith. After 237 came,operator-in-charge, where we took a civil service test (which of course I took,we established seniorityand passed). rules. This was a bigThere were three or four titles. The lowest was assistant bridge operator. Thenext title was bridge operator, then bridge operator-in charge, who was in charge thing.of the bridge, scheduling, making out orders, and things like that. And of course,there was the supervisor. That title was in the union. Until then, the supervisor was appointed by the director of bridges,what we called the engineer in charge. When the union came in, we said, OK, theres going to be a civil service test for supervisorwhich by the way I passed twice but I was never appointed. Thats a sore spot. The union stood up for me.Frank Scarpinato, Jr. came to a meeting and represented me, and he got them to state that the next opening for supervisor would go to me. But there was a lot of underhanded stuff and I never got the job. When I came to bridges, we worked a week or two of 8 to 4, a week or two of 4 to 12, a week or two of 12 to 8. People werent happy with that. Some wanted a particular shift. The union got involved and we were able to get schedulesintroduced into the system. It worked pretty well. People were able to choose schedules they liked, based on seniority. On the jobThe main job was to see that the bridge opened in an orderly fashion, without any problem, to make sure that there25 '