Mike Hazard, Program Manager of the United Association's Veterans in Piping program and a third-generation United Association member, served 11 years as a Navy aviation rescue swimmer and helicopter mechanic. He joined the America's Work Force Union Podcast on Memorial Day to discuss a program that has now put more than 3,700 veterans on a path to careers in the pipe trades.
Hazard spoke about the program's structure across seven installations, the bottlenecks that limit participation to roughly 10 percent of active-duty transitioning service members and the partnership with Helmets to Hardhats that helps catch those who cannot make the VIP timeline. He also delivered a personal conversation about mental health and suicide prevention in the construction industry, an issue he said has become deeply personal after losing VIP graduates to suicide. Hazard closed with a Memorial Day message about the obligation to tell the stories of those who did not come home.
Mike Hazard joined the UA in 1987 and stepped away in 1988 to serve in the United States Navy, where he spent 11 years as an aviation rescue swimmer and H-46 helicopter mechanic. After being honorably discharged as a petty officer first class in 1999, he came back to the UA, completed his apprenticeship and worked his way up to become the Program Manager of one of the most successful veteran transition programs in the country. He says he would do it all again without hesitation.
His appearance on Memorial Day was fitting. Not just because of his service, but because the Veterans in Piping program, the mental health work he has poured himself into and the message he delivered at the close of the conversation are all expressions of the same conviction: the people who served deserve more than a thank you. They deserve a shot at a good life when they come home.
The UA's Veterans in Piping program has been running since 2008 — predating the DoW SkillBridge framework by years. More than 3,700 active-duty transitioning military members have completed the program, which is now offered through nine classes at seven military installations. Each year, the program produces between 300 and 350 graduates who receive basic safety training, entry-level job skills, direct entry into the UA’s Registered Apprenticeship Program and guaranteed employment. Hazard described his personal commitment to keeping that promise and called his effort to get every graduate to go to the Local Union they requested when they asked to start one of the most meaningful parts of his work.
The program is constrained by design. It runs 117 days, just under the 120-day DoW maximum, which means fitting it into a service member's final 180 days of active duty requires commanding officer approval and precise timing. Hazard estimated that only about 10 percent of the 200,000 service members transitioning out of the military each year have access to programs like VIP. For those who cannot make the timeline work, VIP directs them to the Helmets to Hardhats program, another outstanding pathway to the trades. As Hazard put it, his team does a warm handoff with Locals, sending resumes and making direct introductions to business managers.
The UA VIP program operates on quality over quantity. The military, Hazard acknowledged, pushes for more and faster. His answer is that the UA pays for everything, and keeping the program small and well-run is how they keep their word to every graduate who walks through it.
The second half of the conversation shifted to a subject that Hazard has made his personal mission. Construction workers are twice as likely to die by suicide as workers in other industries. They are six times more likely to die by suicide than in a jobsite accident. An industry that devotes enormous resources to hard hat requirements, fall protection and OSHA-30 certification has, for too long, treated mental health as someone else's problem.
It became personal for Hazard when VIP lost graduates to suicide. He got tired of crying and decided to act. The program now integrates a suicide prevention and awareness workshop — developed in partnership with the University of Colorado and specifically tailored to the construction industry — into OSHA-30 training. The workshop runs one to two hours and covers awareness of the problem, the role every co-worker can play and the resources available, including the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.
Hazard was specific about how peer support actually works. It is not about being a therapist. It is about knowing your co-worker, noticing that something has changed and being willing to find the right moment, a carpool ride, a quiet spot, to ask them a difficult question. He said the question is not "are you thinking about hurting yourself?" That language is too vague. The training teaches people to ask, "Are you thinking about suicide?" Direct language gets a direct answer. Whatever that answer is, it opens a door. Even if the person gets angry, the seed is planted. They know someone sees them.
He then addressed the stigma head-on. Mental health struggles do not resolve after one round of therapy. This is a lifetime of support, and by talking about it openly when there is no immediate crisis, workplaces make it more likely that someone struggling will reach out before they reach the edge. OSHA has now recognized suicide prevention as a valid topic for OSHA-30 training. That, Hazard said, is progress, but it is not enough.
Hazard closed with a reflection on Memorial Day that he has clearly thought about deeply. He acknowledged both dimensions of the holiday — the gathering and warmth of early summer, and the solemn reality of its existence. His message to anyone who encounters a veteran today: look them in the eyes, thank them for their service and mean it. His message to anyone who has lost someone in uniform: tell their stories. Do not let those stories be forgotten. If someone is telling you a story about someone they lost, listen with both ears until they finish. That, he said, is what Memorial Day is about.
More information on the Veterans in Piping program is available at uavip.org. If you or someone you know is in crisis, the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is available by calling or texting 9-8-8.
Every victory at the bargaining table starts with workers standing together. From the shop floor to the statehouse, hear how activists are fighting for better wages, safer conditions and a stronger future. Subscribe to the America's Work Force Union Podcast to get the latest interviews with the leaders and organizers building worker power across America.