Women strive to build a place in Brazil’s construction industry

BY JEN SWALES

MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS

RIO DE JANEIRO -- When 19-year-old Paloma Cristina Terra’s boyfriend, Felipe, left her, she was terrified. Five months pregnant at the time, she had no idea how she’d support herself. Like many young women from Rio de Janeiro’s poorest slums, she’d dropped out of school in sixth grade and never held a job.

Milena Vicente Silva de Santa Rita, 25, found herself in a similar predicament. A single mother of two from Nova Iguacu, a poverty stricken city just outside Rio, she hadn’t held a steady job in five months. Occasionally, she’d find temporary work cleaning, earning the equivalent of about $53 a month, but that was hardly enough to support a family of three.

Both could have done what many poor women in Brazil do and take up full-time jobs as maids. But a typical maid’s salary – equal to $265 a month – wouldn’t have provided a real escape from poverty. So they decided to try something different.

When Young Women and the World of Construction Meet, It's "MAGIC"

The San Diego Chapter, NECA is getting ready to participate, once again, in the Mentoring A Girl In Construction (MAGIC) Camp hosted by theNational Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC). San Diego's fifth annual MAGIC?Camp runs June 20-29 at the Stanley E. Foster Construction Tech Academy.

Thirty-three area high school-aged young women will join forces with countless construction trade association mentors, including our own San Diego Electrical Training Center's ace instructors. Experts in skilled fields, provide hands-on training, allowing the young women to learn basic construction skills in a variety of trades ranging from electrical to carpentry to sheet metal.

The intense summer day-camp experience gives a glimpse of what the construction industry has available for today's women and the many career paths to explore. Participants will have an opportunity to sample the tools of the trades, including building a construction project on the high school campus.

NECA San Diego has long been supportive of women in construction and encourage women to enter into their apprenticeship programs offered by San Diego Electrical Training Center or participate at the university level in the NECA Student Chapter programs.

Past graduates of the MAGIC experience have continued their education at San Diego State University in the J.R. Filanc Construction Engineering and Management Program. MAGIC graduate and SDSU coed Ana Sical joined the NECA National Green Energy Challenge as part of the SDSU-NECA Student Chapter competing against the best and brightest students from major universities nationwide.

"The MAGIC program continues to introduce young women to the many possibilities available to them that will lead to a solid career," said Karen Prescott-Loeffler, San Diego NECA's director of business development and SDSU-NECA Student Chapter representative. "For many of these young ladies, this is a reason to stay in high school and earn that diploma."

Today's construction is a highly skilled field which includes the many career paths in renewable energy. Many would agree, there is no other program quite like MAGIC Camp, where a young woman can experience the future.

Women In NECA (WIN). NECA’s national organization is also supportive of women involved in our industry. Formerly known as the NECA Women's Peer Group, Women in NECA (WIN) was created to provide a collaborative forum for all women affiliated with NECA-member companies, NECA chapters and local NECA-IBEW Labor-Management Cooperation Committees (LMCCs). WIN supports the professional development of women working in the electrical contracting industry through educational and networking events; promotes diversity in the industry; and encourages women to explore careers in electrical contracting. For more information on WIN, please visit www.necanet.org/education/women-in-neca/

Retrieved from: http://www.necanet.org/index.cfm?fa=newsAboutNecaItem&articleID=5333

Windsor, Ontario casting call for construction opportunities video

PATRICIA WILLIAMS

staff writer

Windsor’s women in construction group is seeking female skilled tradespeople to participate in an upcoming video promoting career opportunities in the industry.

Christine Prymack, operations and communications manager at the Windsor Construction Association said the initiative is being undertaken in conjunction with the Windsor Essex Catholic District School Board and the Greater Essex County District School Board.

Targeted at girls in Grade 10, the video is to be produced by students from one of the schools. Slated for completion next fall, the video will be aired at various schools.

“We’re not necessarily looking at any particular trades in terms of participation in the video,” Prymack said. “But preferably, these would be trades where some post-secondary education is required.”

The women in construction group would like to see interviews conducted at jobsites, in order to best demonstrate the diversity of the industry.

In an allied undertaking, members of the group also are looking into providing mentors for women graduating from post-secondary institutions and entering the construction industry.

Mentoring is one of the key goals of the year-old group, established with the blessing of the boards of both the Windsor Construction Association and sister Heavy Construction Association. Providing networking opportunities is another top priority.

The group now has more than 80 members, representing a broad cross-section of the local construction industry, including contractors operating in the heavy and industrial, commercial and institutional sectors as well as subcontractors, company owners, architects, engineers, and suppliers. Upcoming events include a golf outing and dinner Aug. 16 at the Woodland Hills Golf Club and a networking evening in the fall.

On an ongoing basis, the group is involved in efforts to raise funds for Hiatus House, a local women’s shelter. That initiative is being undertaken in conjunction with the city of Windsor’s building department.

Women interested in participating in the video or other group functions should contact Prymack by e-mail.

Retrieved from: http://dcnonl.com/article/id50593/--windsor-ontario-casting-call-for-construction-opportunities-video

Women Comprise Only 3 Percent Of Construction Jobs; Local Women Changing The Tide

EOA Staff | June 11, 2012 at 11:18 am

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, about 75 percent of all registered apprenticeship programs are in the construction industry, but women constitute only 3 percent of all registered and active apprentices in construction occupations.

“We want to not only close that gap, but to offer innovative programs for women to step into unconventional jobs that they feel drawn to,” says Kirkland J. Murray, president and CEO, Anne Arundel Workforce Development Corporation (AAWDC). “We want to give them the competitive edge in a challenging job market.”

Sixteen enterprising women from diverse backgrounds who recently graduated from an eight-week intensive training program through AAWDC where they received certifications or skills in OSHA 30 Safety, NCCER Core, CPR/First Aid and building green/sustainable construction took it to another level. Armed with new skills and a passion to help others, they launched their own company, Working Women in Construction (WWIC), to assist women in obtaining jobs in non-traditional roles such as construction as well as provide general contractor, safety/safety management and workforce development services.

Their first project will be to give back to the community at the Severna Park Baptist Church on Friday, June 8, 2012, where they will rebuild a handicap ramp that has been in disrepair. Pastor David Brown of the church, which has served the community for more than 50 years, says, “We’re very glad and humbled to have this opportunity. Typically, we’re the ones to be on the giving end. It’s an honor to be receiving this from women who are in the minority [in the construction field].”
AAWDC’s Women in Construction program was made possible through a grant from the U.S. Department of Labor. Training was provided by The Association of Building and Contractors, Inc./Chesapeake Shores Chapter, AAWDC and The Maryland Energy Sector Partnership.

For information on Women in Construction and other training programs available through AAWDC, visit aawdc.org. For information on WWIC general contracting services, contact Monica Pineau, 443-995-0763.

The Governor’s Workforce Investment Board, in partnership with the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation received a U.S. Department of Labor grant in the amount of $5,793,000 for an energy sector green jobs training initiative. The initiative is designed to lead to increased employment in energy efficiency and renewable energy which cuts across a wide range of industries including construction, manufacturing, power generation, and those that are environmentally related.

Anne Arundel Workforce Development Corporation (AAWDC) is a 501(c)(3) Corporation charged with providing workforce and training services to Anne Arundel County citizens and businesses. AAWDC operates seven One-Stop Career Centers that offer innovative workforce solutions to businesses and job seekers. Business services include customized recruitment assistance, job postings, business retention, training funds for incumbent workers, and workforce transportation solutions. Job seeker services include job search assistance, career guidance, career development and computer skills workshops, access to our resource center, training assistance, and supportive service referrals.

Retrieved from: http://www.eyeonannapolis.net/2012/06/11/women-comprise-only-3-percent-of-construction-jobs-local-women-changing-the-tide/

Female construction workers prove themselves in a ‘man’s field’

Female workers around campus say to fit in with the men they can’t be too sensitive.

By

• Bryna Godar

June 06, 2012

With light-rail construction engulfing the University of Minnesota, campus is covered in hard hats and neon vests. But few of those are worn by female workers.

Women have joined the construction industry as laborers, engineers and managers, but the field is still largely dominated by men.

“We’re still a minority, but not as much as we used to be,” said light-rail construction worker Jenellen Gallatin, who has been working in construction for 12 years.

“I like physical work, so for me, it works,” she said.

In Minneapolis, 17.6 percent of light-rail workers are minorities, and 6.3 percent are female, with some individuals factoring into both percentages. These numbers are near the project goal of employing 18 percent minority and 6 percent female workers.

Union Tradeswomen Show Solidarity

By Robert Carlsen in Sacramento

Facing new challenges in an election year, U.S. union tradeswomen attending a second annual conference in May in Sacramento reviewed anti-union measures on ballots across the U.S. and vowed to unite to slow attrition.

The conference, co-sponsored by the AFL-CIO's Building and Construction Trades Dept. and the California State Building and Construction Trades Council (SBCTC), attracted women craft workers from 26 states and from abroad. With 100 fewer attendees than last year, 520 came to the 11th annual meeting for state tradeswomen.

SBCTC spokeswoman Debra Chaplan, also a member of Teamsters' union Local 853, said women now make up just 2% of the U.S. construction workforce, down from a peak of 8% in 2008. Melina Harris, president of Sisters in the Building Trades, a Renton, Wash., activist group, says many tradeswomen are working so infrequently that they are leaving the industry to find more reliable jobs to support their families. "Retention is a big problem," she says.

Sessions stressing political activism—with names such as "We Are the 99%" and "The Political Fight in the States: Stopping the War on Workers"—were popular. Bryan Blum, political director at the California Labor Federation, said a November state ballot measure, called the "Stop Special Interest Money Now Act," is really "an anti-union dues measure and does not affect corporate Super PACs and billionaires."

Warren Whitlock, associate administrator of the Federal Highway Administration's civil rights office, called for more "online metrics" of how states are meeting compliance goals. Dept. of Labor's Jane Oates added, "You need to get unions and the construction sector strengthened and back on their feet before you turn to women and apprentices." Whitlock called on attendees to "make noise. You've got to let people know what you want."

Retrieved from: http://enr.construction.com/business_management/workforce/2012/0604-tradeswomen-show-solidarity.asp

America's Labor Leaders to Release Major Study on The Associated Builders and Contractors

WHAT: The Building and Construction Trades Department (BCTD), joined by the AFL-CIO and LIUNA, will release the findings of a first-ever state-by-state comparative analysis of the Associated Builders and Contractors trade association, better known as ABC, and its affiliate organizations. The findings expose ABC's data manipulation and an aggressive disinformation campaign designed to confuse elected officials, the public and the press into supporting policies that produce fewer jobs, lower wages, and minimal workforce training, which have had a detrimental effect on workers, their communities and the US construction industry as a whole.

The report, written by Dr. Thomas J. Kriger, analyzes ABC from a number of different perspectives, including its origins, its membership and density among contractors in the American construction industry, its finances, its formal apprenticeship and craft training programs (along with its affiliate, the National Center for Construction Education and Research, NCCER), and ABC's more recent electronic, ideological issues advocacy.

The findings of the report, "Driving the Low Road in the Construction Industry: An Analysis of Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC)," will be released at a teleprint conference call.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE REPORT

Kaiser Permanente's Hillsboro hospital opening still a year away, but construction nears completion

HILLSBORO -- Tayna Wylder looked on Tuesday as her crew delicately molded concrete for the central plaza of the $344 million Kaiser PermanenteWestside Medical Center, the first new hospital in Washington County in 40 years. 

View full sizeAndrew Theen/The OregonianTayna Wylder, right, works alongside her crew as they wrap up work on the elaborate plaza entry to Kaiser Permanente's new hospital in Hillsboro. Wylder is one of a dozen women owners of companies with contracts on the construction.

"It's the hardest job we've ever had," said Wylder, owner of Star Construction Services. "It's tested our company extensively." 

Wylder's crew started work on the facility in 2010, among the nearly 2,000 workers chipping in on the new facility.Kaiser, the nation's largest nonprofit health management organization, hopes to open the facility to patients and 1,100 employees in August 2013. 

Virtually all construction is complete on the Tanasbourne-area facility. The plaza is intended to be a central courtyard and entryway for the hospital; a warm and open place where sick patients or their friends and family can find refuge. 

Woman-owned firms like Wylder's took in $33.7 million in contracts on the soon-to-be-finished 126-bed hospital, accounting for roughly 27 percent of construction costs, according to Kaiser figures. Minority firms took home $7.5 million, or 6.5 percent of costs. 

With private companies like Kaiser and public entities creating minimum requirements for woman and minority-owned contractor involvement, Wylder said companies like hers are not as much of a rarity these days as they used to be. "It's going to be the new norm," she said of the diversifying face of construction. "That's the way the industry is trending." 

Star Construction is scheduled to work on the Sellwood bridge replacement, but project delays put their duties a couple years out. Work continues on the Willamette River bridge on Interstate 5 in Eugene, but that will end soon. 

So, despite the bright, sunny day and the fact that her whole crew was working across Hillsboro, Wylder said she still feels the weight of a recession that has hammered construction firms everywhere in recent years. "I feel a big pressure to keep our employees employed," she said. 

Ultimately, said Wylder, 43, it's a simple equation. Like everybody else, "we need more work." 

(Kaiser Permanente's Westside Medical Center is the first new hospital in Washington County in nearly 40 years.  A Business section article Wednesday gave incorrect information.)

Retrieved from: http://www.oregonlive.com/hillsboro/index.ssf/2012/05/kaiser_permanentes_hillsboro_h.html

From South Africa: Awards for excellence (Govan Mbeki best woman partnership award)

Zola Ntshiya, Picture: GALLO IMAGES

Peter Luhanga

Some state-funded housing projects in the Western Cape have scooped the prestigious Govan Mbeki Awards for delivering exceptional work.

The annual awards for outstanding work in housing development were initiated in 2006 and named after Govan Mbeki in honour of the role he played in human settlements by partnering with key stakeholders in order to further the cause of building a nation free of inequity.

At a ceremony held this week 11 state-funded housing projects received the prestigious award in different categories namely best finance linked individual subsidy programme project, best upgrading informal settlements programme project, best rental stock, best priority project and best enhanced people's housing project.

Additionally, two students, Gerhard Hanekom and Merli Koen, were awarded the Govan Mbeki merit student award and the organisation,

South African Women in Construction walked away with the Govan Mbeki best woman partnership award.

Deputy Minister of Human Settlements Zou Kota-Fredericks, who presented the awards together with human settlements

MEC Bonginkosi Madikizela, said through the efforts of partners the government was able to build sustainable human settlements and create jobs.

Madikizela said the state-funded housing projects that had won awards had showcased hard work.
However, he said the provincial housing backlog was not dented despite delivering houses.

The N2 Gateway housing project, which had built 3012 houses in Delft, scooped the best priority project award. – WCN

Retrieved from: http://www.thenewage.co.za/50506-1011-53-Awards_for_excellence