UA Local Union 393 saved Conrad Pierce’s life.

After an injury ended his overseas service with the Marine Corps, Conrad returned home to San Jose in 1986, grappling with sobriety and the search for a stable career. He struggled to hold down non-union plumbing jobs that regularly cheated him of his hard-earned wages.

But in 1996, a friend told him that someone with his skills would have a better chance with UA Local Union 393. Conrad took the union’s plumbing test and passed. It was the beginning of a huge transformation.

“When I found this union, I thought, ‘Wow, I found a family,’” Conrad recalled. The Local helped him move into a halfway home, where he cleaned up and got sober. He started to save money for a house, car and retirement. And he worked hard — really hard.

In fact, when he was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2008, Conrad didn’t stop. Six months into chemotherapy, his boss told him to go home. But instead, Conrad went down to the Loyd E. Williams Pipe Trades Training Center to learn how to weld. He reasoned, “If I’m going to be sick, I might as well be out and about.” Thanks to the instruction and support of Kevin Campbell and Mujo Botic, Conrad was able to train through chemotherapy treatments. He not only beat cancer, but he got his welding certification in just three months.

Trent Eves, a general foreman, gave Conrad his first welding job. “He said, ‘There’s the building, go to work.’ He never questioned me one bit,” said Conrad. Then Jim Hoover, along with many other UA Local Union 393 members, helped him refine his skills.

Conrad went on to become a steward on huge job sites like the Stanford University’s Lorry I. Lokey Stem Cell Research Building, San Jose Regional Medical Center, and Apple Campus 2. He worked his way up to become a foreman. This year the membership elected him as their newest Business Representative.

If there’s one story that encapsulates how enthusiastic Conrad is about his new job it’s this: In Conrad’s third month as business agent, a young apprentice came to his office after being laid off for the first time. The apprentice had done everything he was supposed to, yet didn’t understand why he had been let go. When he got emotional, Conrad explained that he felt the same way about his first pink slip. Conrad apologized he couldn’t do more in that moment. But the very next morning, he called the apprentice to say, “I got you a job.”

“No amount of money in the world can give you that feeling of being able to help someone like that,” said Conrad. “It’s an amazing feeling to just help another human being like that. You can’t buy that feeling. I knew then that the job I have today is the job I’m supposed to have. I’m passionate about my union brothers and sisters.”

Today, Conrad is fighting to give the veterans coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan the same opportunities he had when he got out of the Marines. That means championing the Local’s Campaign for a Secure Future, and fighting to grab market share from unscrupulous out-of-town contractors. Conrad vividly remembers what it was like to do non-union work 80-hours a week for next-to-nothing wages, so he’s become a tireless promoter of the union to every young person he meets.

He’s also giving back to his community. Conrad used his good union wages to purchase the halfway home that helped him conquer his addictions. Today he rents the house’s five rooms to men seeking a safe place for recovery. For many years Conrad also sat on the board of the Star Fellowship, a non-profit organization known for its community service and the many events it holds for those recovering from chemical dependency.

“I’m really grateful for my union because without it, I wouldn’t have anything,” he said.