Former inmate able to rebuild life through work in construction trades

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Like many electrical apprentices, John Bailey spends his time bending pipes, putting in wall outlets and wiring panels. He works with journeymen to decide how to best handle the job and counts on more-experienced electricians for mentorship.

Before Bailey found a new life in the trades, he had been incarcerated twice in Wisconsin.

“This is something I wanted to do, and I’ve been focused on it. I told myself, nobody is going to give you a chance unless you give yourself a chance,” said Bailey, 47. He currently works as a construction wireman with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 494. He also speaks to other released inmates for the Social Development Commission, a program that helps impoverished people in Milwaukee County.

The construction industry doesn’t usually investigate the past of its craft workers unless they make it public, however stories like Bailey’s ring out now and again. John Jacobs, business manager of Local 494, said this makes the skilled trades field a viable option for everyone.

“The real success comes from John himself who has made a concerted effort to turn things around for himself,” Jacobs said.

Currently, finding skilled labor is crucial for many construction firms as available work outpaces employment. Skilled trades employers are looking for more than 200,000 workers this year to keep up with demand.

Former inmates looking to integrate into society have been a component of construction workforce intermediaries. For example, WRTP | Big Step in 2022 reported 12% of the people it served in Wisconsin had been involved with the justice system.

That 12% is expected to increase over the next few years as WRTP works with The Way Out, a hiring program to refer and train former inmates interested in trades careers, said Lindsay Blumer, president and CEO of WRTP.

Literacy programs inside correctional facilities help youth and adults secure high school equivalent degrees, so the process is smoother for them as they seek construction careers after being released, she noted.

“Knowing that nearly 6,000 folks are released each year from Wisconsin correctional institutions, paired with the need for workers, we know the union construction trades can offer family-sustaining wages, gainful employment and reduced recidivism,” Blumer said.

From conviction to finding a career

Growing up on the north side of Milwaukee, Bailey said he was exposed to gangs early in life. After a drug-related shooting in the late 1990s, he served 10 years of a 15-year sentence. He was released in 2008, when jobs were scarce and dealing drugs was one of the few options for a convicted felon to make an income. In 2010, he was arrested again, charged and sentenced with two other men for another shooting that killed a bystander.

After being released in May 2021, Bailey said he found a poster for the Social Development Commission’s Absolute Advantage program while staying at a halfway house. The program offers a 12-week pre-apprenticeship course which offers introductory courses for occupations in carpentry, electrical work, HVAC and demolition. He took the program while working a second-shift job and met Jacobs shortly afterward.

“Every time I saw the bulletin board I saw all the job postings up there. I’d look at the flyer and read it over and over,” he added.

Growing up, Bailey’s father was a plumber for more than 30 years, his grandfather did carpentry work and his uncle was an electrician. After the pre-apprenticeship program, he decided to become a lineman for the extra income.

After filling out an application and passing a drug test, two weeks later he started work with his first contractor on projects such as the Journal Commons redevelopment and the Milwaukee Tool building in downtown Milwaukee.

Bailey said Local 494 has always had his back. Since starting construction work, he’s been invited to give speeches for other groups in the Social Development Commission and conferences for union trades. In early September, he spoke in front of North American Building Trades Union President Sean McGarvey and Congresswoman Gwen Moore for an event about the construction workforce growing rapidly more diverse.

Bailey said his aspirations are to become a master electrician and work in residential construction independently.

“I want to open my own job sites, be a foreman, do stuff on my own, because I want to buy property and learn to wire my own houses,” said.

He said he wanted to help other men returning from incarceration so they can turn their lives around.

“I know it’s helping me make my life better.”