Hon. Fabian Manning: Honourable senators, today I am pleased to present Chapter 74 of “Telling our Story.”

When one speaks of Newfoundland and Labrador, the word “fish” often comes to mind. Well, today I am going to tell you about a group of men known as “The Fish Gang” who, over a hundred years ago, left the small fishing outports of our province and headed to the streets of New York City to help build that city’s incredible skyline. American construction companies recruited Newfoundland fishermen who were used to climbing the high rigging on fishing schooners and, therefore, were not afraid of working on high steel. The risk was high but so was the pay.

Legend has it that the first Newfoundland ironworker was a man named Frank Treahy from Conception Harbour, who quickly sent word back home to the “bys” that there was steady work and good wages to be had erecting skyscrapers in New York. Other Newfoundlanders heeded his call, and by the 1930s, Newfoundlanders represented about a quarter of the membership of Iron Workers Local 40, which covers Manhattan, the Bronx, Staten Island and Westchester County. Some rose to prominent positions in the union. In 1939, Newfoundland native Jim Cole was elected president and served until 1950. The next union president was Ray Corbett, whose family hailed from Harbour Main. He was then followed by Ray Mullett, the son of an ironworker from the now resettled community of Oderin in Placentia Bay. He, in turn, gave way in the early 1990s to another native Newfoundlander, Jack Doyle. You could say they took the place over.

The Newfoundland men were known to swim in schools or stick together and watch out for each other on and off the job. They soon became known as “The Fish Gang,” and when their sons took up ironwork, they were called “The Fish Offspring.”

The men from Newfoundland were also well known and respected for their strong work ethic, their wonderful personalities and their fearlessness. New York journalist Jim Rasenberger, in his 2004 book High Steel: The Daring Men Who Built the World’s Greatest Skyline, said:

The Newfoundlander would have been a natural for the work.... He would have possessed the sea legs and the rigging skills that were so important to the job.

He went on to say that the Newfoundlander “. . . would also have been accustomed to working hard under risky circumstances and not fretting too much about it.”

Rasenberger added:

Compared to hauling seal carcasses across a shifting icefield in Labrador, or climbing a ship’s mast on a stormy sea, the feat of balancing on a steel beam several hundred feet above the streets of New York was a cakewalk.

I am sure many of you have seen one of the world’s most famous photographs, which was taken by Charles Ebbets on September 29, 1932, and has been referred to at different times by the titles Eating over Manhattan and Lunch Atop a Skyscraper. It shows 11 men having their lunch while sitting on a steel beam on the sixty-ninth floor of the Rockefeller Plaza building in New York City. That would be about 850 feet about the city street. The photo has become an icon of 20th-century American photography. While some of the men in the photo remain unidentified, it is said that the third man from the left is Austin Lawlor of King’s Cove in Newfoundland, and the fifth man is Claude Stagg from the fishing community of Catalina.

Knowing that the boys from home always hung out together, I’m confident that there are a few more Newfoundlanders sitting there, dangling their feet.

In 1986, Hana Gartner with “The Fifth Estate” produced a great documentary on “The Fish Gang” called Ironworkers from Newfoundland: Walking Iron. It is easily accessible on the CBC website, and I encourage you to have a look. They built buildings like the Sears Tower, the World Trade Center and, yes, the Twin Towers. The hands of Newfoundlanders helped build one of the most fascinating cities in the world.

Years ago, long before safety protocols were put in place, a Newfoundlander was asked during an interview about the dangers associated with the job, and his answer was, “You only fall once.”

It is said that wherever you go in the world, you will find a Newfoundlander and Labradorian. They have left our shores and made their marks throughout the world. It was no different with the lads who went to New York so many years ago. Today, I am pleased to pay tribute to the “The Fish Gang.”

Thank you.