EP 06 — FOR REAL · MADE HERE
Curtis Vaughns
IBEW journeyman who's wired job sites from Green Street to the south farms
SAMPLE PROFILE — FILM SLOT
His story is coming to the series soon.
The Wrong Car
Curtis Vaughns grew up in the North End and couldn't stand a desk. School felt like a coat that didn't fit. He passed his classes at Central mostly to keep his grandmother off his back.
At nineteen he was in the wrong car on the wrong night, and a charge followed him around for two years like a dog. He was lucky. It got reduced, then expunged. Plenty of guys he knew weren't lucky.
One dumb night at nineteen almost cost me everything. The trade gave it back, forty-six dollars an hour.
The Card
A cousin already in the union told him about the IBEW apprenticeship through Local 601 here in town. Five years, paid while you learn. Curtis applied twice before he got in.
Two decades on, he's a journeyman making union scale with a pension he can actually explain. He's pulled wire in half the buildings on Green Street and a good share of the campus labs. His grandmother lived to see him get his card. He still says that's the best part.