Month: August 2025

• Malik Johnson decided to pursue a construction path after learning about a program in high school.
• He started his career as a concrete laborer and switched to pipe fitting after a pandemic layoff.
• Johnson emphasizes knowing your ‘why,’ progression in the trades, and seizing every opportunity.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Malik Johnson, a 29-year-old union pipe fitter in St. Louis. It has been edited for length and clarity.

When my parents bought me toys as a child, I always played with the box more than the toy. With Lego bricks, boxes, and trash cans, I’d build small apartment complexes, take a step back, and think, I did that.

My mom saw that in me. She took me to construction sites and encouraged me to pursue my passion for building. She let me have tools, and I would do small projects around the house.

I was making whatever my mind came up with, and that’s what led me on the path toward construction.

I took shop class in high school

My brother introduced me to his soccer coach, who was also the construction teacher. I joined the class.

It was easy for me to adapt and help others improve their craft, too. If someone was scared to use a tool, I’d say, “Hey, try it this way.”

Some people are nervous about messing up, but I love messing up. Sometimes, you find something new that way — a happy accident.

An executive at design-build construction firm Clayco named Dan Lester came in to talk to my class about the Construction Career Development Initiative, or CCDI, a program aimed at exposing underrepresented populations to careers in the construction trades.

Dan talked about how we need to envision a future for ourselves and the opportunities that the construction industry could provide. As I heard Dan speak, I thought, How do I want to live?

I looked at Dan’s confidence when he walked into the room demanding attention, how he carried himself, his family, his background, and all his connections, and I was convinced.

I found the trades

After graduating from high school in May 2015, I started my career as a concrete laborer. I helped build bridges, hospitals, and research labs until 2019.

In spring 2020, after a layoff due to COVID-19, I switched to being a pipe fitter, first as a laborer, then a journeyman, and now as an apprentice with the Local 562 Pipe Fitters Union.

You don’t have to go to college to get into pipe fitting. You go to a training center, which is like a two-year college experience. You have a night class once a week, practice your welding, study blueprints, math, and OSHA, and they pay you to learn. Then, you do an apprenticeship for five years.

I love being a pipe fitter

It gives me confidence knowing I have a set of skills that are needed everywhere in the world. I also like knowing how important pipe fitting is for helping all businesses run efficiently.

Pipe fitting isn’t easy, and not everyone can do it, which makes it a lot more special and gives me a sense of accomplishment.

Here are three takeaways I’d tell anyone interested in entering the trades.

1. Know your why

Before I chose pipe fitting or construction, I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I remember my cousin, a high-spirited plumber, asked me, “What is your why?”

My why was that I wanted to help my mom. We were homeless, and she was going through chemotherapy for breast cancer. My brother was in college, so it was just me and her. She made it feel OK, so I didn’t even know how bad it was at the time, but I know I never want to be homeless again.

My advice to someone who says, “I don’t know what I want to do” is to ask yourself why you want it and then figure out the next steps.

2. You can make money, but it’s a progression

You have to work your way up. When I started earning good money, making $33 an hour, I got laid off. Then COVID-19 happened, and I lost all my savings.

I had to start over, and my income dropped to $15 an hour. Things were tough, but a winner finds a way, so I started DoorDash and Instacart to compensate for the income loss.

I worked Monday through Sunday, six to eight hours a day. I also did some odd jobs for family and friends, like simple house projects.

Right now, I’m a fifth-year apprentice and will be a journeyman pipe fitter next year. As a journeyman laborer, I earned $101,000 in a year. When I journey out on June 1, 2026, I will be able to earn over $110,000 a year.

3. Don’t pass over opportunities because of fear

When I was with CCDI — going to school, working, and building the whole program simultaneously— I was nervous and scared the whole time, but they had my back.

What helped me was knowing I wasn’t in this alone and that CCDI and my mentor supported me every step of the way. They had a system to help me succeed as long as I applied myself, and that gave me the confidence to know that even if I don’t know what the future holds, as long as I keep moving forward, things will work out in the end.

If I’d passed over that opportunity, who knows what things would look like now?

• Data from Square shows that the average tip on food and beverage transactions dipped below 15% in Q2.
• Though average tips shrank across the board, bars saw the highest average at 16.9% of the ticket price.
• The average restaurant worker makes nearly 23% of their income in tips, Square found.

Tip fatigue may be pushing us further away from 20% gratuity being the norm.

Square, a financial services and digital payments company, released a report on Thursday. It found that in Q2, average tips were down across the restaurant industry, dipping below 15% of the total ticket price for transactions across full- and quick-service restaurants, cafés, and bars.

While that may be good news for consumers who are tired of leaving tips, the economic impacts could have knock-on effects for the service workers who depend on them.

“As consumer confidence in the economy shifts and tips fall, workers are taking home less, which could lead to a return to labor uncertainties for the industry — adding to the crunch local restaurants are continuing to feel,” Ming-Tai Huh, Head of Food and Beverage at Square, said in a statement.

The data, which compiles information from more than 100,000 restaurants using the Square payment system, analyzed more than 900 million transactions from Q1 2024 to the end of Q2 that were priced between $5 and $300 with a tip of at least $1. The report illuminates trends about tipping culture in the US, which is largely seen as more obligatory than in other countries.

The dip reflects how rattled US consumer confidence has been in recent months. While the Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Survey shows consumer attitudes rebounded slightly in July after a dip in the spring, consumers’ assessment of the present economic outlook remains below last year’s levels — and has not yet recovered from the hit they took during the pandemic.

At full-service restaurants and cafés, where American consumers are most comfortable leaving tips, rates have remained relatively flat, reducing by less than half a percentage point since Q1 of last year, according to Square’s data.

More significant fluctuations were seen at bars and quick-service restaurants, Square found: tips at bars reduced 0.4% in the last quarter alone, and QSR tips dipped by 0.6% in the same timeframe.

Despite the lower average tips across the board, transactions at bars still generate the largest gratuities at 16.96% of the total ticket price, Square found. So, while Americans are drinking less, it appears they still appreciate their bartender’s service.

Patrons largely dislike the practice of leaving tips, especially when they feel obligated to do so or are asked to leave gratuities in non-traditional industries. Some say the practice has gotten out of control and have begun to avoid businesses that ask for them, Business Insider previously reported.

However, tipping remains essential to service workers, who depend on gratuities for a large percentage of their income.

“As previous Square research has underlined, tips make up a major part of workers’ wages — the average restaurant employee earned nearly 23% of their income in tips in 2024,” Huh said in a statement to Business Insider.

Новости Радио Свобода: точность, оперативность, беспристрастность

The Trump administration has secured another major trade deal, this time with the EU. Meanwhile, the President is still grappling with disagreements with the Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell over rate cuts and with other Western nations over Palestinian statehood. FOX News Sunday anchor Shannon Bream joins the Rundown to break down the internal debate at the Federal Reserve over keeping rates steady and looks ahead to the upcoming UN General Assembly, where some nations may push forward with recognizing a Palestinian state. The fertility rate in the United States has recently fallen to an all-time low, with approximately 1.6 children born per woman. This rate has been steadily declining since 2007. While many are choosing to have fewer children, others are hindered by fertility issues. Emma Waters, a policy analyst at the Center for Technology and the Human Person at The Heritage Foundation, joins the Rundown to discuss this decline and what can be done to reverse the trend. Plus, commentary from the host of “Tomi Lahren is Fearless” on Outkick, Tomi Lahren. Photo Credit: AP
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