Local 12 welcomes Patrick Mulkerrin as business agent

To fill the business agent position vacated by Tim Fandel, Local 12 members elected Patrick Mulkerrin earlier this year. Fandel is serving as the local’s business manager.

Mulkerrin is the first plumber in his family, but not the first union member. “That’s what we do in my family,” he says, noting that his father is a laborer and his grandfather was business manager of the laborers local.

Growing up, Mulkerrin says that his family did most of the repairs and work at their house. He remembers pitching in with projects such as rebuilding the deck and replacing water heaters and says that he was always handy and interested in the trades.

To help pay for college, Mulkerrin worked nights doing construction. While on the job, he became fascinated by and drawn to the mechanical trades. “Seeing a project start from nothing and watch as the whole system got built was almost like artwork,” Mulkerrin recalls. He decided not to return to college and pursued plumbing as a career instead.

Joining Local 12 in 2006, Mulkerrin apprenticed with GBPCA contractor, Kennedy Mechanical, and worked on the Renaissance Boston Waterfront Hotel, one of the first major projects in the Seaport District. He says he loved the trade from the start. “I had fun every day and came home smiling.”

The Great Recession intervened in 2008 and temporarily derailed Mulkerrin’s apprenticeship. He was out of work for ten months. The experience, which illustrated the sometimes-cyclical nature of the construction industry, left a deep impression on him. He returned to work and finished his apprenticeship with Cannistraro.

Soon after becoming a journeyman, Mulkerrin got involved with Local 12 and was appointed to the Joint Conference Board, which is comprised of both union officers and contractors. That gave him the opportunity to meet and work with many GBPCA contractors and get to know the management side of the business.

Mulkerrin subsequently ran for and was elected recording secretary for Local 12, was a delegate for the New England pipe trades at the 2016 United Association (UA) convention, and then got the nod as the local’s vice president. When the UA asked former business manager Harry Brett to serve as its special representative in New England, the local appointed Mulkerrin as interim business agent at the start of 2020. He was elected to the position in February.

Soon after Mulkerrin became a business agent, the pandemic created chaos and caused 80% unemployment among Local 12 members because of construction site shutdowns. It’s been something of an extreme trial by fire.

“There’s nothing in any UA manual to prepare anybody for this,” Fandel says, referring to the COVID-19 crisis. “Nonetheless, Patrick has been extremely focused and engaged. He is doing a great job despite the circumstances.”

For his part, Mulkerrin says that he knew business agents assisted members, but he didn’t realize the extent of the involvement—especially amid the pandemic. At the height of the layoffs, the business agents were kept busy helping members navigate the unemployment system and apply for benefits.

The most frustrating fallout from the pandemic has been the inability to meet face-to-face with members, Mulkerrin says. With in-person union meetings cancelled and most other communication limited to text messages, Facebook posts, phone calls, and other remote means, it’s been difficult for the new business agent.

“I look forward to things retuning to normal,” says Mulkerrin. “I want to meet people at the hall and have personal interactions where we can be with one another.”