Meet Leslie Roberts

Leslie Roberts, 36, is a plumber and a proud member of Steamfitters Local 638. He worked on the Riverside Drive Project in New York City, a 100% union-built property located along the Hudson River on the Upper West Side of Manhattan that was financed by union pension dollars through AFL-CIO-sponsored programs.

Leslie has been a part of the union since 1998 and first got involved with the Steamfitters union because his father was a steamfitter. He is a mechanic, who worked on all of the heating and air conditioning aspects of the building for the Riverside Project. He was the foremans partner and was the second in command at that site where he managed everything, including helping his team get materials and laying out everything for the project ahead of time.

When asked about the best part of being a union member, Leslie revealed:

Its the brotherhood that we have, the camaraderie, the family, a lot of the families are related and came up through generations, and their fathers have worked with my father. And also, the quality of work that we do is special because you get to see a project being built thats always going to be there; its a lasting memory that you are always going to have to look at and to tell your kids about when you drive by.