Blair Daly spoke with Billy Hetherington, the political director for Laborers Local 242, one of the largest unions of construction workers in Seattle. The two met in Tacoma while attending the Re-Wire Policy Conference, an event that attracts legislators, lobbyists, and others who closely follow activities in the state capitol.
Here are the topics covered in the 10-minute conversation below:
- The various kinds of jobs the union members do
- What’s cool about being in a union
- Advice for young people coming into the construction industry
- Why Locals 242 has invested effort into suicide prevention
- The need for more males in mental healthcare occupations like counseling
- Political support for a Washington State Commission on Boys and Men
Below is an edited transcript of a portion of the conversation
Suicide prevention
Blair Daly: The website for Laborers Local 242 has information on suicide prevention. Why is that?
Billy Hetherington: A few years back we noted that the rate of suicide in the construction industry is about three times higher than the general population, I believe, and we started looking into why that is. The union is a brotherhood, a sisterhood, a family atmosphere. We want to take care of our members.
We have these vanilla envelopes that our agents carry with them at all times. They hand them out during membership meetings and urge members to take them. Inside the envelopes are different tools and resources related to suicide prevention. For example there’s a card that says “In crisis? Text HELLO to 741741 for free, confidential help 24/7”.
We all know somebody who might be going through something in their life. Handing out these envelopes is an easy and inconspicuous way to help.
There is a mentality among some of us like ‘I’m a construction worker, I’m a man, I don’t have emotion, I can’t express my emotions.’ Sometimes you bottle up a lot of things, and then your mind tells you there’s just no way out.
We joke that we spend more time with our coworkers than we do with our families. I have seen a lot of divorces, custody battles, different things among our members, and some of those can trigger thoughts and emotions that could lead to a mental health crisis.
The one main story I can tell about suicide is I had a coworker who became a really good friend of mine. He was formerly incarcerated, and he ended up getting in trouble with the law again. The day before his first court date he didn’t show up for work. Later that day they found him hanging. He had hung himself. Maybe that was a situation where he felt he didn’t want to go back to what he’d experienced before.
More male counselors
Blair Daly: There are some occupations that lack male participation where having more men in those fields could make a positive difference. One of those is counseling. Do you have any perspective on if it would be beneficial for men to have more availability of male counselors to talk to?
Billy Hetherington: Yeah, I agree 100%. It’s like how in the construction industry we’re trying to diversify the participation for women to come into the industry. I think some men feel more comfortable talking to another man as a counselor than a female.
See related: Men commit suicide in Washington at three times the rate of women
Political support for a boys and men’s commission
Blair Daly: Judging by Local 242’s endorsements for the 2022 election, the union supports Democrats. I’m curious if you think that Democrats could, would, or should get behind the idea of a commission on boys and men.
Billy Hetherington: We do primarily support Democrats, but not always.
Yes, I do believe that a commission to raise awareness on a lot things that we’ve talked about today for men and boys would be a great thing. [Continued…]
Click here to hear the whole 10-minute conversation.
