New York, NY – Outstanding Apprentice of the Year Antoinette Rizzica is a member of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers Local 12 (HFIAW). Insulators apply insulation to pipes, tanks, boilers, ducts, refrigeration equipment and other surfaces requiring thermal control of temperatures. The responsibilities of these mechanics, improvers and apprentices also include the manufacture, fabrication, assembling, molding, erection, spraying, pouring, mixing, hanging, preparation, application, adjusting, alteration, repairing, dismantling, reconditioning, corrosive control, testing and maintenance of heat or frost insulation. Workers also handle insulation materials made of fiberglass, rubber, calcium silicate and urethane.
These crucial tasks require years of training, with millions of citizens relying on the workers to maintain the systems they depend upon. Antoinette Rizzica is one of those workers, and LaborPress spoke to her about Local 12, the other awards she has won, and what it is like being one of the few women in the trade.
LP: Where did you grow up? Where do you reside now?
AR: I grew up in Staten Island, NY. I currently reside in NJ.
LP: Tell us about your Local and what it provides?
AR: Local 12 provides me with more than just a career. The local has provided me with nothing but constant support as an apprentice, a worker, and as an individual. As an apprentice I will always have nothing but appreciation and admiration for my school coordinator Joe Rodgers and my teachers Kevin Soika, Steve McCann, Pat Moriarty, Scott Whitman, and Chris Donnelly, as well as every mechanic that I have come to know and learn from as I am constantly learning something new and taking everything with me on my career journey. As a worker and Local 12 member I have much appreciation for everyone in our Local 12 office from our President Mark Bayala, members of our E-Board, Business Managers John Jovic, Chris Cook, Nick Grgas and Steve McCann, our organizer Anthony Fagioli, and the women in our office Maggie and Donna. Although we are just beginning, I am so very proud of all the members of our Local 12 women’s committee especially our President Christina Lemyre, and Vice President Alicia Fonseca for organizing our committee. I am very proud and blessed to call all the brothers and sisters of Local 12 my family.
LP: What initially attracted you to the trade?
AR: To be honest, I had no idea exactly what an insulator actually does when I had applied to the union. I was at a point in my life where I knew that I needed to make a change, I knew I loved working hands on and wanted to be a part of a union. I wanted a career, not just a job. I did apply to other unions and when I received a few letters at the same time to start an apprenticeship, after researching each trade in depth the insulation trade had sparked my interest the most and I had decided I was going to give insulation a try. Almost 4 years later, I am beyond thankful that I did choose my trade because I genuinely love what I do. A wise man once said ‘If you do what you love, you will never work a day in your life,’ which had a whole new meaning to me once I found a career that I love.
LP: Did you come from a union family?
AR: I do have family members that are union.
LP: What skills have you learned in the apprentice program?
AR: I have learned more skills than I could count through my apprentice program. A few to mention that I have learned through my apprentice program are interpersonal skills, working alongside my teachers, classmates and Local 12 members from all different levels, self-motivation, discipline, and independence. The most important skill that I can say that I have learned would be the insulation trade itself! I have learned so many different layouts, techniques, different materials to work with, and I am constantly learning something new every single day. With the constant industry changes there will always be new skills to learn way beyond my years as an apprentice!
LP: Is there any particular aspect of the trade that interests you the most?
AR: The aspect of the trade that interests me the most would be all of the different ways that we work as insulators. Whether that may be the constant change of scenery, working with different materials and applications, and working with many different people. It keeps the job exciting!
LP: What is it like being a woman in an industry dominated by men?
AR: Being a woman in an industry dominated by men has its days honestly. For the most part, it’s 2023 and the number of women working in this industry are growing which is awesome. However, you will always run into the few men that will make it harder for you because there are some men that don’t believe that women belong in the industry. However, for the majority of my career I have come to meet and know quite a few men that are very supportive and don’t see you as inferior on the job but as a sister, as their equal, and it’s very nice to have more of those guys than not on the jobs! Speaking for myself, although most women in the industry may not agree, working in a male dominated industry will be a constant challenge for women to overcome. I know that most of us will work that much harder knowing that we have to prove ourselves on the job and make it very known that women belong on a job site just as much as the men. We all sign up for this industry with the same intentions, to create a better life for ourselves and our families, and to get the job done the right way, the union way!
LP: You are involved with the women’s committee. What is its goal?
AR: Yes. Sisters of Local 12 are dedicated to empowering ourselves by developing programs and strategies that create opportunities in leadership and the ability to advocate to overcome any obstacles in the way of achieving long term success for and within our union. In other words we recognize the obstacles in front of us and welcome the challenge. Our brothers support us as we pave a way for ourselves within and outside the Local. We are a smaller group within a larger group whose only goal is to better the larger group. We are as strong as our weakest member so we are focused on breathing fire into every women until there are no weak members.
LP: Joseph Rodgers, your Apprentice Coordinator, said he looks for a work ethic and dependability in apprentices. As Outstanding Apprentice of the Year, do you believe having these qualities helped you stand out?
AR: Yes, having a good work ethic and being dependable are most definitely the qualities that helped me stand out, and they are qualities that have only helped me push myself to strive to continue to become the best that I can be in my trade!
LP: You have distinguished yourself in other ways: winning a scholarship for international teaching, and becoming a Master Apprentice Competition champion. Please share details about each, and what you did to achieve these wins.
AR: Winning a scholarship for international teaching is such a blessing for me. Teaching future insulators, passing down all of the knowledge that I’ve obtained and will continue to learn and grow with is something that I very much wanted for my future. Now that dream can become a reality. Becoming a Master Apprentice Competition Champion is yet another dream, a goal that I had set for myself the very first day I sat in orientation for my apprenticeship. My work ethic and dependability definitely did play a part in turning my dreams and goals into a reality, along with the guidance and the encouragement from my teachers through my years as an apprentice. I can only work very hard and hope to be as amazing as the teachers that I’ve had the opportunity to learn from.
