BY PAT BARRY, EDMONTON JOURNAL
Progress has been made since the late 1980s in acceptance of women on construction job sites, says Pat Barry, a former president of the Calgary Construction Association.
Photograph by: Brian Gavriloff, The Journal, File, Edmonton Journal
Re: "Union aims to smooth trades work for women," edmontonjournal.com, Nov. 7.
This article on unions smoothing ways for women to work in trades in the construction industry made me realize how slow the construction industry is to fully accepting that women can be a great source of skilled labour, while also recognizing the equality of male and female employees.
Back in the late 1980s I was president of the Calgary Construction Association. One objective of mine was to promote and encourage the hiring of women in the trades. To reinforce this principle I arranged to have a female appointed director-atlarge of the association. I believe this was the first time our association had a female director.
It took some time to convince contractors to accept the idea of women in the trades on job sites. First of all there were few, if any, qualified females with trade certification. Also there were the usual comments about the weaker sex unable to do work that required "strong" men and the need for separate washrooms on job sites, parenting and pregnancies, etc. Some contractors were genuinely concerned about the new issues having women on job sites would present, and how they could be addressed. Some other contractors were reluctant to even consider the matter.
But progress was made even though it took a long time. Recently a woman was elected president of the Calgary association.
The Journal article seems to indicate that real progress is being made and I hope it continues. Admittedly, construction job site "physical" work is a non-traditional occupation for women. It is encouraging to see progress.
Pat Barry, Saint-Lambert, Que.
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