Women in the trades demand fair hiring at Temple University

By Joseph Piette
Philadelphia 

Published Feb 24, 2012 9:09 PM

Chanting “Temple University! Unions for All!” to the beat of Puerto Rican planera drums, construction workers and their supporters picketed a worksite at Temple University on Feb. 13 to demand fair hiring practices.

The protest was organized by Margarita Padín, who has worked as a carpenter for 23 years and is a member of Carpenters Local 8; Joanna Harris, a member of Operating Engineers Local 542; Dianna Montague, a member of Ironworkers Local 405; and other women and men in the construction trades.

Harris told Workers World: ” We are out here today because Temple University and L. F. Driscoll have had a lack of fair hiring practices for minorities and women at this particular location. It has been a history of Temple University and the other general contractors — the major contractors in the Philadelphia area — to not properly monitor, and hire with fairness, skilled trade laborers. Ironworkers, operating engineers, electricians — the women are not represented. The minorities are not represented.”

Margarita Padín, right, at Feb. 13 protest. WW photos: Joseph Piette

The Coalition of Labor Union Women, Temple students and Occupy Philly activists joined the protest, which received supportive comments from passersby and honks from passing cars.

Padín said: “Temple University has $400 million in current construction projects in one of the poorest districts in the country, but the demographics of this district are not represented on these construction projects. These are the kinds of jobs that lift people out of poverty.”

“The mandate for the make­up of the workforce should be the state of Pennsylvania as well as Temple University — they are in the middle of a minority-populated area. They should be monitoring fairly. … We’re going to be here until we see a change,” said Harris.

The protest spurred Temple University officials and construction contractors to meet with organizers. But since no progress was made, the labor activists have announced another protest on Feb 20.

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Retrieved from: http://www.workers.org/2012/us/women_in_the_trades_0301/

Accidental Trailblazers for Tradeswomen

By Tunisia L. Riley*

On January 25, 2011 Women’s eNews sponsored a panel discussion of female electricians, moderated by Francine Moccio, author of Live Wire: Women and Brotherhood in the Electrical Industry. The event was standing room only with guests filling each seat and lining the walls of the Women’s eNews office. Panelists included Melinda Hernandez, Laura Kelber, Cynthia Long, and Susan Eisenberg. The women were all featured in Live Wire and were from Local Union 3.

The all-woman panel discussed the many hurdles female electricians face. Their stories were both painful and inspiring as the theme of sexual harassment threaded throughout each of their experiences. Beyond the harassment, the women also recounted the pride they felt in the work they were doing. No one signed on the be a trailblazer for tradeswomen but in the midst of their struggles, they became the mouthpiece of women electricians, a sisterhood that bore the scars of sexism, racism, and homophobia.

Melinda Hernandez spoke of growing up in NYC and standing in line on the cold streets of Queens waiting for an application to join Local 3’s apprentice program to become an electrician. She said she spent her 22nd birthday camped out for hours and ultimately became a Journey Woman. She would refer to her male colleagues as “haters and harassers” as many of the men vehemently opposed her presence as a female electrician. “I was invading the boys club and they were going to the do their best to get me out…I’d had to fight the fight for the right to be there.” When Hernandez received her “journeyman” card, she made it a point to have the language changed to reflect the women electricians in the field. She won that battle as her next card said “journey woman.”

Laura Kelber beamed with pride as she spoke of the electrical work she’d done at various high profile buildings across the New York City metropolitan area. But while she took pride in her work, she still encountered ample resistance from co-workers. She recounted one job where the foreman followed her around with a pornographic magazine while making lewd comments towards her. Kelber and other panelist recalled break rooms and locker rooms lined with pornography, and portajohns that would not lock. In the midst of these conditions, the women electricians banded together by giving each other emotional support by listening to each other’s stories and encouraging each other in the hostile environment. They also banded together to familiarize themselves with sexual harassment laws, OSHA, and letter writing to improve their working conditions.

Like Melinda and Laura, Cynthia Long faced the uphill battle of trying to do her work in spite of the hostile environment. She noted feeling let down by the union she paid dues to.  If she knew she would face such severe verbal backlash as a woman electrician, she said she would not have gone through it. Melinda echoed this sentiment: "You spend so much time and energy fighting and working, you forget how to be nurturing and kind. Everything becomes a battle and you lose a bit of yourself and peace of mind."

Susan Eisenberg, author of We’ll Call You When We Need You (a book that came out in 1998), interviewed women who were pioneers as electricians and carpenters. She used their narratives to share stories from the field. Eisenberg collected stories and artifacts from these pioneering women to create “On Equal Terms: Women in Construction, 30 years and still organizing” an art exhibit at Brandeis University.

Each woman spoke of the bittersweet fruit that is the life of a tradeswoman. While they took great pride in their work and enjoyed the financial compensation for the hard work, they also faced an uphill battle against sexism from co-workers and unions that was unchanged from their first day to their last. They worked tirelessly and risked their lives as electricians, carpenters, and construction workers. It was clear they didn’t want a handout; they just wanted the respect of their colleagues as they worked to provide better lives for themselves and their families.

For more information about supporting or learning more about Women Electricians in the New York City area contact Cynthia Long.

For more information on the electrician field:

• International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW)
• Deptartment of Labor Definition of Electrician

*Tunisia L. Riley is a frequent guest blogger on The Real Deal. She holds a BA in English and Women’s Studies from the College of William & Mary and an MA in Women’s Studies from the University of South Florida. Her interests are on Black women’s use of creative expression as a means of healing, empowerment, and activism. She believes “when we tell our stories, we empower those around us to agitate injustice, inspire change, and create activism.” Tunisia currently serves as the editor of Under the Microscope, a site for women and girls in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) to tell their stories. Under the Microscope is for, by, and about women in STEM. Consider submitting your story today!

Retrieved from: http://www.ncrw.org/trackback/2596

ISC Topping Off Ceremony Set for Thursday, 2/16/12

ISC Topping Off Ceremony Set for Thursday
UMass Boston Construction Update
February 14, 2012.
As ironworkers near the end of assembling the structural steel of the Integrated Sciences Complex (ISC) frame, UMass Boston will celebrate the milestone with a "topping off" event on Thursday, February 16, at 1:30 p.m. at the intersection of University Drive and the Quinn Roadway, near Healey Library.
The "topping off" of a construction project is a ceremonial event marking the end of steel construction by putting into place a final, signed beam. The campus community is invited to stop by and sign the steel beam between 8 a.m. and 1:15 p.m. on Thursday.
To get to the beam signing and to the ceremony, walk through the Quinn Upper Level doors, take a right and follow the Quinn Roadway. Just before reaching University Drive, take a right. The white beam will be located in front of a fence gate.
Following the ceremony, light refreshments will be served in the Quinn Upper Level lobby.
For those who want to stay inside for the beam-raising ceremony, good viewing areas include the catwalk between the Healey Library and Quinn Administration Building; the Ryan Lounge, third floor McCormack Building; and the Healey Library, eighth floor.
The crane on the ISC site is scheduled to leave next week. The most noticeable construction will move to pouring concrete for the floors of the new building.   
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Museum exhibit shows women in industry

By Kellie Rowe | Originally Published: 02/08/12 10:34pm |Modified: 02/08/12 10:34pm | 

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Aaron Snyder | The State News

A new exhibit at the MSU Museum takes a look at tradeswomen’s 30 year struggle for access and equality in the construction industry. The On Equal Terms exhibit, which opened on Sunday, is free to the public.

When Emettra Nelson enters the classroom, the construction management freshman notices a lot more men in the classroom than women. 

As a woman entering a primarily male-dominated field of work, she said she plans to set the bar high for women in construction.

“Going into this field, I’m thinking I would like to change a person’s view, (showing them) that women can do anything that men can do,” she said.

On Sunday, the MSU Museum unveiled its latest exhibit in the Main Gallery, On Equal Terms by Susan Eisenberg, which illustrates many of the hardships women face entering the field of construction and other skilled trades. The exhibit will be on display from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday through May 13.

MSU Museum Director Gary Morgan said the exhibit tackles issues regarding both gender and the work environment.

“No doubt a number of women who did make or try to make a career in construction certainly had to work hard at doing it,” he said. “A lot of this exhibit looks at the relationship between them and a very male-dominated industry.”

Nelson said in her field of study, she often encounters many of the same feelings expressed by women in the exhibit.

“Being a black female (in construction), I have most definitely felt out of the ordinary,” she said. “I definitely feel like I have to prove myself.”

Artist Susan Eisenberg — a faculty member at Brandeis University in Massachusetts — said after creating the elements of the exhibit in the early 1990s, including mixed-media elements such as construction equipment, she’s excited to bring it to MSU.

“It’s really raising the questions of treating people on equal terms and how we really create a fair environment where everyone is equal in the workplace,” she said.

With inspirational stories and struggles of women in construction throughout the years, Morgan said he noticed a personal touch to Eisenberg’s work.

“She explores a lot of that dynamically through (real-life) stories and direct sources,” he said.

Eisenberg said there are new elements to the exhibit, including women’s stories wallpapered under actual wallpaper and a poet’s mailbag telling the story of a woman’s struggles with rape while on the job.

“It’s a constantly evolving exhibit (based on) how I change perspective over time to adapt to a space,” Eisenberg said. “It changes on response to where the conversation about women in construction is heading.”

When it comes to choosing a vocation such as construction management, Nelson said she hopes women realize they don’t have to follow traditional roles.

“(Women) don’t have to settle for being what society thinks typically women should be,” she said. “I want women to be who they want to be and go for their goals, because that’s what I’m doing.”

Retrieved from http://www.statenews.com/index.php/article/2012/02/museum_exhibit_shows_women_in_industry

Women Get Skills to Break Into Traditional Men’s Trades

Retrieved from: http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/business/2012/01/women-get-skills-to-break-into-traditional-mens-trades/

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Image credit: Scott Shulman/ABC

In the shadow of a Long Beach, Calif., power plant, a dozen women step into tool belts, don hard hats and learn  how to carry a bucket of cement up a flight of stairs to get a leg up on trades usually dominated by men.

According to a 2009 Department of Labor report, while gender equality has made headway in the executive ranks — a quarter of CEOs are women — less than 1 percent of 77,000 U.S. ironworkers and steelworkers are female.

Sherron Ballard, 55, used to be a real estate agent — now she wants to work in construction.

Ballard told ABC News that she was making the job switch for the higher income, which would help her raise her daughter.

She is participating in a grueling 10-week program by Women in Non Traditional Employment Roles, or Winter. The Los Angeles group, in its 15th year, trains women to become plumbers, electricians and ironworkers — well-paid, blue-collar occupations previously dominated by men.

At one California construction site, 250 men worked alongside two females.

Winter’s goal is to tip that balance. The women earn safety certificates, learn about timekeeping, what to wear on construction sites and how to handle discrimination.

“When they go out there for their first job, a lot of people are gonna look at them and say: ‘Why aren’t you home? What are you doing here? Are you sure you’re in the right place?’ And they need to learn how to brush it off and continue on with their work,” said Berta Campos, a program instructor. “I think we need more women in order for men to change their mind and we have to prove them wrong.”

“Women have to go out to work,” said Donna Williamson, who recently graduated from the program. “I have a child. I have to support him.”

Williamson, a 41-year-old single mother, used to make minimum wage selling skateboards in a bike shop. Now she’s an apprentice ironworker making $28 an hour, and her wages will are sure to increase as she progresses in her career.

“I used to drive around and I’d look at the guys on the beams, on the high-rises, and it’s one of those intriguing things,” she said. “There are not a whole lot of women in the construction field. At the end of the day, you are dirty, you are sweating, you don’t smell the greatest and that’s fine with me.”

“I love my job,” Williamson said. “If I can do it, they [women] can do it. And I’m only 5’2.”