Featured Local

Local 78's Gary Cook talks about Michael's Valley Plumbing

Gary Cook is the Business Manager of UA Plumber's Local 78, one of the oldest continuously operating union locals in the United Association. Local 78 sits in the heart of Los Angeles, dispatching workers to high rise projects, stadium construction and practically everything else that calls for skilled plumbing work. If it crowds out the sky the odds are that Local 78 hands helped to build it.

Mr. Cook is a quiet man with a shy smile; he is a licensed pilot who enjoys flying and who runs his Local like a man doing a preflight checklist. Gary seldom wastes a word. We asked him about our featured contractor, Michael's Valley Plumbing.

Question: What do you think about Michael's Valley Plumbing?

Cook: "They are a new contractor, a progressive company in the way they do business. They have some very positive old-school assets: they are always on time, they are honest, straightforward, and they have hands-on management. The owner is a UA member and gets his drive from being a successful plumber journeyman."

Q: How do they approach business?

Cook: "They analyze their market well and follow the available work. As a businessperson the owner does quite well-he's made the transition from journeyman to businessman well. This is a pattern that I hope others will follow in service and repair."

Q: How does this fit into the plans of your Local Union?

Cook: "Our union doesn't just want to have relationships with large contractors-we also want to want to be partners with small firms, the ones who get in there and do their segment of the work. We can't prosper in this industry unless we cover all the important markets, and partnering with smaller contractors is important in that."

Q: How do you get along with the owner, Michael Mize?

Cook: "I've known him six years. All his workers seem happy there. I'd like to send him to our training sessions at Ann Arbor for mentoring by more established service and repair companies."

Q: So if there are other UA journey-level workers out there, you would encourage them to step to contracting and sign with your Local?

Cook: Without question. That's where the future of our business lies.