...owners’ reps, apprentice coordinators or the first BCTD standing committee on women in the trades.

Maloney encourages discussion at meetings and gives his staff autonomy to present their work. He is a good moderator who retains control but doesn’t hog the agenda. He admits to disliking how long it takes to accomplish some things. When some union officials appeared to be dragging their feet at a recent meeting to create a national drug testing policy, Maloney grew visibly impatient. "This isn’t rocket science," he asserted.

Discussion Leader. Maloney is at home with diverse constituencies. (Photos by Guy Lawrence for ENR)

Maloney also is a devoted husband and father. "He has a heart of gold," says one aide. Son Michael spent summers working as a boilermaker. The 29-year-old now is a fourth-year apprentice in elevator constructors’ Local 50 in Toronto. Daughter Amanda, 27, teaches school in Toronto. The Maloneys also have an 18-month-old grandson, Mekhai. Friends call him loyal. "He’d give you a kidney if he had to," claims long-time friend Gord Williamson. Maloney also is a long-time fund-raiser for important causes, including juvenile diabetes.

Maloney doesn’t hunt or fish, but he is a serious hockey fan, rooting for the Toronto Maple Leafs. What does a devoted fan do when the National Hockey League is on strike? "Work a lot," replies Maloney, especially on the weekends when he does not go home to Toronto. "There’s not much of a life without a wife," he playfully grouses.

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Maloney says that most of one recent weekend in Washington was spent "doing laundry, cleaning my apartment, answering email and working." But he does admit to spending some of that time with friend and mentor "Big Joe."

Maloney also travels a lot. One recent 10-day trip included two days in Hawaii, three days in Las Vegas, a day and a half in Kansas City, and a stop in Chicago enroute to Toronto for the weekend.

What’s next for the labor leader? He and Sullivan will run for re-election in August for a second five-year term. Beyond that, he won’t say, except to note that he doesn’t plan to be working when he’s 70. By then, he’ll likely be living in Florida where the Maloneys plan to retire. He also is in the process of applying for U.S. citizenship.

High Hopes

Maloney has high hopes for the future of Helmets to Hardhats. "Personally, in 20 years from now, I think Helmets to Hardhats will be as much of a household name as the G.I. bill," he says.

For 2005, candidate registrations are expected to reach a total of 100,000, up from 63,000 currently, and efforts are under way to give candidates easier entry into apprenticeship programs in some states. Apprentices will be encouraged to join the National Guard, closing the circle with Hardhats to Helmets.

Hedman retired from Bechtel and joined the H2H staff in January to begin recruiting vets for construction management jobs. The first placement is imminent, Hedman says. That part of H2H could pave the way for disabled vets to begin construction careers, performing procurement duties, estimating and other non-manual jobs, Hedman explains.

"When you get right down to it, it’s really the right thing to do," says Maloney. "For what they do for us, the least we can do is give them a good career when they come home."

Kristina Reinholtz, 27, Local 1977, Carpenters’ Union	"If it wasn’t for Helmets to Hardhats, I’d still be working job to job," says Reinholtz, who moved to Las Vegas to begin her apprenticeship in October 2004. "I love it, I’m never bored," says the former Army private who now believes she’s found her career. "I can see what I accomplish every day. I’m not sitting in an office and looking at the walls," adds Reinholtz. (Photo left by Michael Goodman for ENR)
Gerald Cobian,23, Local 433, Ironworkers’ Union	Just out of the U.S. Marine Corps, Gerald Cobian is beginning his apprenticeship with classes in basic math and safety. On the job, he is learning welding and finishing work. (Photo left by Michael Goodman for ENR)
Daniel Sauerwein, 27, Local 638 Plumbers’ and Pipefitters’ Union	After serving in the Navy in Afghanistan and Iraq, where he was in charge of launching and recovering aircraft from an aircraft carrier, Sauerwein says his job prospects were "nil" when he was discharged in August 2003. A relative told him about Helmets to Hardhats and he registered immediately. Within a month, Sauerwein says he received a phone call from the steamfitters’ local. He began his apprenticeship in July. Now, Sauerwein hopes to make it a career. "There are great advancements," he says, adding that the union offers the closest comparison to military comradery "that a vet could find." (Photo by Guy Lawrence for ENR)
Ken Dianovich, 44, Local 569, Electrical Workers’ Union	Retiring in 2002 after 211\2 years in the U.S. Navy, Lt. Commander Ken Dianovich read about H2H in a military officers’ magazine. He registered and began his apprenticeship in August 2004. (Photo left by Michael Goodman for ENR)
Anthony Guyton, 27, Local 12, Asbestos Workers’ Union	"I always wanted to be union, but it always seemed so hard to get in," says Anthony Guyton, who had worked as a nonunion plumber before spending 31Ú2 years in the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division, 11th Infantry. "This program made it 10 times easier to get in." Guyton left the Army as a corporal in December 2003 after a year’s service in Iraq. He did not learn about Helmets to Hardhats until later. "That’s the bad thing. The Army [officials I dealt with] had no information about it. A lot of the guys definitely would have been interested," he adds (Photo top left courtesy of Anthony Guyton; bottom by Guy Lawrence for ENR)