WNYLaborToday.com Editor’s Note: Around 300 Members of the Unionized Building Trades are in the midst of constructing the massive 500,000-square-foot, $518 million Great Lakes Cheese manufacturing and packaging plant in the Cattaraugus County Town of Franklinville, including 20 Members of International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 17.  Pictured above, from left to right are: Local 17 Crane Operator John Merlino; Local 17 Business Manager Gary Swain; and Local 17 Oiler Mike Wilson.  The project is said to be the largest project in the history of Cattaraugus County.   (WNYLaborToday.com Photos)

(FRANKLINVILLE, NEW YORK) - For more years than I care to count, I’ve made the trip from Buffalo to Olean on Route 16 - but never once in all that time did I ever see a single crane rising into the sky as I traveled down to that Cattaraugus County City.

But now, you can’t help but see a huge crane on the massive 500,000-square-foot, $518 million construction project that’s happening in the Town of Franklinville - in fact, not just one, but a total of five large cranes – and another two smaller ones.

That, in itself, is pretty amazing when considering much of the major development that requires such equipment and manpower usually happens in urban areas.

It’s good economic news for those who live in the area for the good-paying jobs the Great Lakes Cheese Plant will bring once it is completed - but for now, there are hundreds of Union/Building Trades-represented Construction Workers who are making more than a good buck working there.

The construction project, according to New York State Economic Development Officials, is the largest project in the history of Cattaraugus County. 

When the cheese manufacturing and packaging plant opens in 2025, it will have nearly 450 Employees - including 215 new hires.

But right now there are around 300 Members of the Unionized Building Trades working on the project, including 20 Members of International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 17.

I recently toured the site with Local 17 Business Manager Gary Swain, who introduced me to two of his Members who are employed there - Crane Operator John Merlino and his Oiler, Mike Wilson.

I spent some time talking with Merlino, who is commandeering a Manitowoc MLC 300, 380-ton crane with a 500-foot-high maximum extension. 

A IUOE Member since 2008, Merlino - who started as a Union Oiler, has worked on building the Tappan Zee Bridge in Downstate New York and major projects in the State of Nevada like the Hoover Dam.

He calls his profession “a dying breed,” but is thankful he got the chance and had the willingness to learn from veteran Operators who taught him the ropes.

Merlino says he gets an “adrenaline rush” when he operates the big red crane - which sports a Christmas mold of Santa Claus, where he can “show off my skills.”

However, all of this that he describes, he says, would not be possible without being a Member of the International Union of Operating Engineers.

“The Operating Engineers ‘changed my life,’” the 47-year-old Merlino, whose built like a Pro Football Linebacker, told WNYLaborToday.com. 

“The money (he makes) ‘has allowed me to live a (tremendous) lifestyle, but it’s the integrity (of working such a job and) belonging to a Brotherhood.’  ‘You put in a lot of hard work, but if you’re diligent and (stay) focused, you will do very well for yourself.’  ‘And I’m proud to be down here (working on this project) in Cattaraugus County.’  ‘This area needs these projects and the jobs for Working Class people.’  ‘It gives people hope,’” he said.

Wilson, a third-year Apprentice who lives in Salamanca (one county over in Chautauqua County), is also excited about being part of the Great Lakes Cheese Project.

“It’s ‘great - the biggest I’ve ever worked on and here, you meet so many people,’” he said.

Wilson, who has three children, says he shows them photos of the project - every day, when he returns home at night from work.

“They’re ‘amazed,’” Wilson.

If Wilson’s name sounds familiar, WNYLaborToday.com just last week reported on a good deed he recently performed while on a coffee break down in Franklinville that greatly aided an elderly woman who was badly injured after falling - face-first, on an ice-covered sidewalk.

(WNYLaborToday.com Editor’s Note: Read ‘In Yet Another Example Of Union Workers Doing The Right Thing When The Need Arises, Labor Hero’ IUOE Local 17 Member Mike Wilson ‘Come To The Rescue Of Two A Western New Yorker’ - ‘Administering & Stabilizing A Bleeding Elderly Woman Who Had Fallen Face-First On An Icy Sidewalk’ At www.wnylabortoday.com/news/2023/04/06/buffalo-and-western-new-york-labor-news/in-yet-another-example-of-union-workers-doing-the-right-thing-when-the-need-arises-labor-heroes-tim-martin-mike-wilson-come-to-the-rescue-of-two-western-new-yorkers/)

In fact, WNYLaborToday.com was made aware of what Wilson did by his IUOE Brother Merlino, a day or so after the incident - which occurred earlier in the morning of the day WNYLaborToday.com traveled to the Southern Tier to cover this Labor News Story. 

Local 17 Business Manager Gary Swain called Wilson’s reaction and afforded assistance “a ‘testament to the Union and family way of life.’”

“Union Members ‘are always willing to help when anything like this happens.’  What Mike did that day ‘is what any good citizen would do and thank God he received the training our Union offers, which is offered to any of our Members who are willing to take the time.’  ‘It all paid off,’” Swain said. 

“I’m ‘proud’ of what Mike did, ‘as I am of any of our Members who do something good, because they care.’  ‘I’m proud of all of them doing the right thing,” he said.