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Rare is the employee who stays with an organization as long as Eugene (Gene) Wininger, who has been with Indiana University since 1946. And scarcer than summer snow is someone who spends an entire career in the same department. But Wininger, hired as a Physical Plant carpenter at the Bloomington campus 50 years ago this fall, is still there and still a carpenter.
When he was hired at the age of 22, Wininger thought his wages were "a lot of money" -- $34 a week before taxes, and that was for a 44-hour week. At that time, all IU employees worked a half day on Saturdays, so 44 hours wasn't overtime.
"We walked to job sites carrying all our tools and materials because there weren't any trucks to take us," he recalled. "The campus was a lot smaller then. There were only about 3,600 students." Wininger's specialties have always been masonry and plaster work. The physical labor was the hardest part of his job, he said.
"I was young and tough and didn't know any better than to just work hard manually. But time crept up on me and I'm not so young anymore, so I'm thankful we have equipment today that lets us work smarter."
Wininger is quite sure he's worked in every one of the 324 buildings on the Bloomington campus at least once, and some of them hundreds of times. "When I walk into the different buildings and see the projects we've done, it makes me feel good," he said. "To be a good carpenter you have to take pride in your work. The people I've worked with over the years have had that pride, and they still do today."
Wininger also has been active in the union, serving as an officer of the Association of Federal County, State and Municipal Employees Local 832 for a quarter century. He also has a 20-year involvement on the Joint Apprenticeship Committee (JAC), which selects apprentices and governs the IU Apprenticeship Program. "I'm really pleased the JAC and the union have been able to help make changes in rules, duties and work conditions over the years," he said.
Wininger only thought about quitting his job once, he said, and that was during his first year, when he had an opportunity to join the city fire department. But he decided to stay with IU, and hasn't looked back since.
As for retirement, that will happen, he said, "when the mood strikes me!."