Matt Faulkner and his son Cameron are both plumbers with United Association Local 149. Just as Matt prepares to retire from the University of Illinois this month, he found himself working alongside his son, who took inspiration from him in pursuing the career.
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URBANA — After 37 years working in plumbing and pipefitting, Matt Faulkner was preparing to hang up the hat on his career when he found himself on a job with a dream coworker: his son, Cameron Faulkner.
“It was one of the highlights of my career,” Cameron said. “I know it may sound corny, but I mean, who wouldn’t want to work a little bit of time with their dad?”
Cameron marks the third generation of United Association Local 149 plumbers in the Faulkner family, beginning with Matt’s father, Bruce.
UA Local 149 represents plumbers, pipefitters and HVAC technicians in East Central Illinois who work at places like the University of Illinois, Eastern Illinois University and Carle Health, just to name a few. That means that despite ostensibly working “together” as members of the same union, Matt and Cameron weren’t exactly crossing paths often.
They ran into each other on a job last summer, too, but when Cameron called Matt up during a job replacing a storm pump near the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology building in early December, so close to Matt’s retirement, it felt even more significant.
“My superintendent said to give the U of I plumbing shop a buzz and see where they’re okay with tying in this water,” Cameron said.
“Yeah, he’s got a hotline to the plumbing shop,” Matt said. “He called me and said, ‘Hey dad.’”
They spent a few hours together tracking down what they needed, but that was just the latest moment in a lifetime of bonding over their career.
Matt brought that career to a close just before Christmas. Cameron hopes to continue his for years to come.
Cameron Faulkner and his father Matt are both plumbers with United Association Local 149. Just as Matt prepares to retire from the University of Illinois this month, he found himself working alongside his son, who took inspiration from him in pursuing the career.
‘If you work hard, you’re able to have nice things’
Like his father before him, Cameron said he was inspired to go into plumbing in part because he saw what it did for his family growing up.
“I grew up in a nice home. When I went to my grandpa’s, he had a really nice home and nice vehicles. You can’t not want that,” he said. “At about 10 years old, you start figuring it out, and want to see yourself in that spot at some point. I knew that I needed to work hard and go to work every day to get those things so that my kids could see that path as well.”
Matt said it was the same for him as with Bruce as a dad: “We grew up not really wanting anything. If I wanted or needed a new ball glove, my dad bought it, you know?”
It wasn’t all about material benefits to the family, either.
For Cameron, Matt’s career in plumbing meant that even as hard as his dad worked, he knew he’d be present with the family plenty, too.
He was home from work at 5 p.m. every single day — and Cameron noticed.
“I knew for sure. You got to do all the stuff you weren’t supposed to do before he got home, and that’s a fact,” Cameron said.
“It is a fact, because I did the same thing with my dad,” Matt said.
That consistency meant a lot to both of them as kids, and knowing that his children were waiting for him at home was important to Matt, too.
He remembers one day that he swung by the credit union to cash a check on the way home, delaying his arrival by no more than 15 or so minutes.
“I got to the house, and my daughter is standing there at the curb bawling. She’s like, ‘Daddy, where have you been? … It’s 5 o’clock and you weren’t here,’” Matt said. “I kind of attribute that to a work ethic and tried to instill good values on (Cameron) too.”
Cameron said he has the same experience with his wife expecting him to be home around the same time every day, and while his own kids are very young, they’re coming to expect it too.
On a similar note, both men appreciate working in a career that they don’t find themselves bringing home at the end of the day.
Matt remembers Cameron telling him that the one thing he was glad to have picked up from him as a father was his work ethic. Save some sick days, he was off to work, putting in the hours every single day.
“You could see that it was enjoyable. It’s something new every day. Basically, you’re helping out people in a way they don’t even know,” Cameron said. “I like having something new to do every day. And I also knew that the pay was very well, and that if you work hard, you’re able to have nice things.”
Making an impact
Plumbing might not sound like a necessarily altruistic career on its face, but both Matt and Cameron see it as a way that they’re able to have a measurable, positive impact on their community.
In Cameron’s previous role as a factory employee, he said he got frustrated with doing the same thing all the time, creating parts that would ultimately be sent off to some other warehouse.
With plumbing, he’s meeting clients face-to-face and seeing why his work matters.
“I didn’t feel like I was helping anybody out really, versus today, I’m fixing somebody’s tub that is all clogged up, and it’s been backed up for two weeks or a week, and I’m going to go home at the end of the day knowing that I helped somebody out,” Cameron said. “Someone’s gonna be able to continue to shower in their own home.”
Both Cameron and Matt also find enjoyment in the process of problem-solving, treating each new job as a puzzle to make sure everything is up to code with the tools available and the least negative impact on the customer.
They’ve also each had a chance to make an impact on their fellow union members. While Cameron is only just getting to a point where he’s training newer members, Matt has been in more leadership positions for some time and worked as an instructor for the union, too.
“That’s the whole thing, the whole brotherhood about a union,” Matt said. “You pass on your knowledge to the generation below you, and they pass it on, too.”
Cameron Faulkner and his father Matt are both plumbers with United Association Local 149. Just as Matt prepares to retire from the University of Illinois this month, he found himself working alongside his son, who took inspiration from him in pursuing the career.
Feelings on ending career, passing on legacy
Now that he’s stepping away, Matt says his first priority is spending more time with family.
“I want to watch my grandkids grow up. That’s the fun part,” he said.
Already, he’s planning to pick them up from school once a week, just to make sure they spend time together.
He’ll also be taking the time to get into his hobbies, working on his Harleys and his ’66 Mustang.
“I’m going to call it ‘me time.’ It’s my turn,” Matt said. “I’ve worked hard for it all my life.”
For Cameron, that same choice is still years away — he says he plans to keep working as long as his body allows — but he’s happy to see his dad get the rest he deserves.
“You’ll have plenty of time to tinker, go on a cruise in your car, on your motorcycle, and not have to worry about what time to be back because you got work the next day,” Cameron said. “One day, I’ll get there.”