Welcome back to UAsk502! Today I’m sitting down with Brian Pate — a 25-year member of Local 502 whose grandfather and father were also members of this local. If the union is in your blood, it’s in his. Brian has worked every corner of what we do. He started on the service side, moved to construction, spent six years in maintenance at a chemical plant — a world most members have never seen — then came back to construction and has been a job steward on nearly every job since. On the job site, he’s the guy they call when the pipe spool is massive, the space is impossible, and everyone else is shaking their head. Projects like the Jim Beam Booker Noe Plant and the UL Chilled Water Project aren’t just names on a resume — they’re problems he solved. And when the apprentices show up, Brian makes sure they’re learning — not sweeping. This is what 25 years of showing up looks like.
What You’ll Learn:
- What it means to grow up as a third-generation union member — and what that legacy carries
- The real difference between service work and construction — from someone who’s done both
- What a maintenance position at a chemical plant actually looks like day to day
- What it takes to drop a massive pipe spool into an impossible space and walk away clean
- Why Brian keeps taking on the job steward role — and what he believes it’s for
- His philosophy on apprentices and why he refuses to waste their time on menial work
- What 25 years in Local 502 really means — in his own words
Connect with UAsk502: 🎙️ YouTube & Spotify: UAsk502 🌐 lu502.com/podcasts
#Local 502 #UAsk502 #Brian Pate #pipefitters #plumbersunion #unionsteward #maintenancepipefitter, #constructiontrades #JimBeamproject #LouisvilleKentucky #unionmemberstories #thirdgenerationunion #apprenticeship