Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Repost: Building Connections Newsletter
UMass Boston recently released a Summer 2013 issue of their Building Connections newsletter, which describes progress on the campus' current construction initiatives. Page 3 has two great articles titled "Building Projects Promote Diverse Workforce" and "Diversity Manual Cites Integrated Sciences Complex," the second of which mentions PGTI's Finishing the Job: Best Practices for a Diverse Workforce in the Construction Industry. Read or download the newsletter at http://cdn.umb.edu/images/news/BuildingConnectionsConstructionNewsletterSummer2013.pdf.
Monday, July 29, 2013
Repost: State by State Map of Pregnancy Discrimination Laws, Breastfeeding and Leave Rights
As part of Legal Momentum’s expertise in pregnancy discrimination in the workplace, they now feature a new interactive, user-friendly map providing a state-by-state guide to pregnancy discrimination laws in the U.S. on their website. The guide also includes information about rights pertaining to breastfeeding and pregnancy leave.
Friday, July 26, 2013
Map of Boston Resident Jobs Policy Monitored Projects
Check out this map of current Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) jobs covered by the Boston Residents Jobs Policy (BRJP). Thank you to the Boston Workers Alliance for creating it!
http://boston.maps.arcgis.com/apps/HeaderFooter/main/index.html?appid=8b6cf7d594c641b9ac065c87e0bbccdc
http://boston.maps.arcgis.com/apps/HeaderFooter/main/index.html?appid=8b6cf7d594c641b9ac065c87e0bbccdc
Thursday, July 25, 2013
Repost: Women in Construction - Moore Community House
Great video showing how Moore Community House's Women in Construction program is training women in the Gulf Coast for careers in the building trades and partnering with local business to place them in high-paying jobs.
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Women in Construction - Moore Community House from Kertis Creative on Vimeo.
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Women in Construction - Moore Community House from Kertis Creative on Vimeo.
Reminder: Aug. 2nd Application Deadline for Suffolk Construction Company's Subcontractor Development Series is Approaching!
Suffolk Construction Company's Subcontractor Development Series offers classes to union and non-union subcontractors that are certified by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as a Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE), Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) or Women Owned Business Enterprise (WBE), and have been in business for a minimum of two years. The free, eight-session series begins on September 5, 2013. The application deadline is 5pm EDT on August 2nd. Space will be limited. For more information and to apply, please visit http://www.suffolkconstruction.com/subcontractor_development_series.html.
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
Repost: The forgotten heroines of London's 'Ladies Bridge'
Historian reveals how women were drafted to construct Waterloo Bridge during WWII but never got the credit they deserved
- Records of women who helped build the bridge have never been found
- Could have been thrown out when construction company folded
- Female workforce ignored when the bridge was opened in 1945 but male workers were thanked
- By 1944, 25,000 women were working in the construction industry
PUBLISHED: 17:26 EST, 15 July 2013 | UPDATED: 08:34 EST, 16 July 2013
It was a time when London was being pummelled by the Luftwaffe, causing mass destruction to buildings that had stood for centuries.
Undeterred by the nightly raids during the Blitz, however, a group of women who have largely gone ignored until now never lost their resolve to build what is now one of the city's most important bridges.
Their work on Waterloo Bridge left it with the moniker of Ladies Bridge, but this fact has been ignored by all but a few.
There is no remaining photographic or written evidence of the women building the bridge, indeed many people who saw the construction efforts say they cannot recall seeing any women there.
 |
| Wartime effort: It is well known that women worked on farms when the nation's men were sent to war, but the accounts of women building bridges are largely untold |
 |
| Undervalued: Women were put to work on the understanding that they would give up their temporary job when the male workforce returned from the war |
'The Ladies Bridge' reveals that their absence from historic records is put down to the liquidation of Peter Lind, the construction firm behind the bridge.
Peter Mandell, manager of the company, explained: 'The difficulty with the Peter Lind records were that when the company went into liquidation in the late 1980s, a lot of their information was kept or pillaged by people who wanted a keepsake of their time with Peter Lind.
'But it was generally well known that, anecdotally if you like that there were women working, and in fact names of a particular lady was given to me at the time.'
Because of the lack of pictorial and written evidence, it is not known what work the women carried out on the bridge, but because many men were out fighting in World War Two, their effort is believed to be significant.
To read more or watch a clip from the documentary, visit http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news.
Repost: FKG sets a new precedent with on-site childcare centre
by Laura Hunt
13th Jul 2013 6:00 AM
ONE of Toowoomba's largest construction companies is hoping an on-site childcare centre will attract more families and women to join its workforce.
FK Gardner & Sons Group recently opened its first on-site early learning centre, Building Blocks, at its Toowoomba office.
The service costs about 50 per cent less than the national average, with space for 18 children.
Contracts administrator Alex Williams' seven-month-old son Harrison was one of the first to be taken in.
"It's great and so convenient. You know everybody's parents and you can go down at lunchtime and visit them," Mrs Williams said.
"When I was on maternity leave and looking at how expensive the options were, I was thinking 'how am I going to go back?'
"It's really positive financially and has provided a good incentive to return to the workforce."
FKG managing director Nick Gardner said the decision followed a successful parental scheme introduced in 2012 that offered incentives for parents to return to the workplace after starting a family.
"It worked really well and got the thought process started on the childcare centre," he said.
"It's a bit left field for a construction company to be setting up a childcare centre but we're a family-based company and our values are to provide a family atmosphere. From our perspective, attracting and retaining good staff is difficult so it's a good feather in the cap to offer current employees but also future employees.
"We're certainly trying to set ourselves apart from others in the industry."
View the original article at http://www.ipswichadvertiser.com.au.
13th Jul 2013 6:00 AM
ONE of Toowoomba's largest construction companies is hoping an on-site childcare centre will attract more families and women to join its workforce.
FK Gardner & Sons Group recently opened its first on-site early learning centre, Building Blocks, at its Toowoomba office.
The service costs about 50 per cent less than the national average, with space for 18 children.
Contracts administrator Alex Williams' seven-month-old son Harrison was one of the first to be taken in.
"It's great and so convenient. You know everybody's parents and you can go down at lunchtime and visit them," Mrs Williams said.
"When I was on maternity leave and looking at how expensive the options were, I was thinking 'how am I going to go back?'
"It's really positive financially and has provided a good incentive to return to the workforce."
FKG managing director Nick Gardner said the decision followed a successful parental scheme introduced in 2012 that offered incentives for parents to return to the workplace after starting a family.
"It worked really well and got the thought process started on the childcare centre," he said.
"It's a bit left field for a construction company to be setting up a childcare centre but we're a family-based company and our values are to provide a family atmosphere. From our perspective, attracting and retaining good staff is difficult so it's a good feather in the cap to offer current employees but also future employees.
"We're certainly trying to set ourselves apart from others in the industry."
View the original article at http://www.ipswichadvertiser.com.au.
Friday, July 12, 2013
Repost: OFCCP Director Shiu Addresses 2013 Annual Convention - The Summit For Workers' Rights
Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP)
NATIONAL EMPLOYMENT LAWYERS ASSOCIATION
2013 ANNUAL CONVENTION: THE SUMMIT FOR WORKERS' RIGHTS
PREPARED REMARKS BY PATRICIA A. SHIU, DIRECTOR
U.S. Department Of Labor – Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs
Thursday, June 27, 2013
Sheraton Downtown Hotel – Denver, Colorado
Good afternoon. And thank you, Teri, for that kind introduction.
It's good to be here. It’s good to be among friends.
I don't have to tell you that we’ve had a rough few days, full of some pretty big setbacks when it comes to defending workers' rights. But the way I see it, after a week like this one, those of us who toil in the pursuit of civil rights and civil liberties have two options:
Either we can curl up in the fetal position and hide under the covers;
Or, we can come to Denver, meet up with 500 like-minded colleagues and start plotting the next great chapter in the history of workers' rights.
I choose the second option. And I know you do, too!
Of course, the news isn't all bad. Yesterday, our nation took a huge step forward on the issue of marriage equality, a seemingly inevitable – but once inconceivable – outcome to cases that have been working their way up through the courts for years.
I join President Obama and my colleagues throughout the administration in applauding the Supreme Court's decision to strike down the Defense of Marriage Act on constitutional grounds. And, as a Californian, I look forward to a lifetime of attending gay and lesbian weddings.
The truth is that our civil society can feel... a bit "Dickensian" these days:
It is the best of times. It is the worst of times.
It is the age of wisdom. It is the age of foolishness.
It is the epoch of Ginsburg... yeah, let’s just leave it at that.
In other words, it's a mixed bag.
But you know what gives me hope right now? A Texas State Senator named Wendy Davis.
She gives me hope.
The daughter of a single mom from Fort Worth Texas, Senator Davis became pregnant at age 19 and a single mom, herself. Undeterred by her circumstances, she enrolled in a local college, transferred to a university and became the first college graduate in her family. She went on to Harvard Law School and, eventually, a career in public service.
Two days ago, 50-year-old Wendy Davis, stood on the floor of the Texas State Senate. She stood for almost 13 hours. She stood without water. She stood without a bathroom break. She stood and she stood and she talked and she talked...
She spoke about the responsibility of government to protect women’s health and our reproductive rights. And – with a little help from her friends – she managed to stand just long enough to help run out the clock on a special session of the Texas legislature. Through her filibuster, the gentlewoman from Fort Worth helped defeat one of the most restrictive anti-abortion bills in the state’s history.
I salute Senator Wendy Davis. I salute her heroism and her advocacy on behalf of countless Texas women.
And I stand with her. On principle.
But here's the thing about standing on principle: Like Senator Davis, you have to remain standing.
You have to stay vigilant.
The only way to safeguard the hard-won civil rights of the 20th century is to fight like hell for them in the 21st century.
That's what I’ve learned this week.
And, in case it helps, I was reminded by a colleague at the EEOC that we have lived through these kinds of setbacks before. And time and time again, we’ve been able to overcome them.
Just a few years ago, a trilogy of court rulings – including the Sutton case – narrowed rights for people with disabilities. Those cases, however, ended up giving birth to the ADA Amendments Act of 2008. It was passed by a Republican Congress and signed by a Republican president.
Ledbetter vs. Goodyear effectively closed the courtroom doors to many victims of pay discrimination. That was until the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act was passed by a Democratic Congress and signed by a Democratic president.
Remember that the work of forming a more perfect union is never finished. Two steps forward, three steps back, right?
I suppose it can sometimes feel that way.
But have you ever actually tried taking two steps forward and three steps back? I bet that if you keep doing it over and over again, your net trajectory will be forward.
You know why?
Because when we move backward, it is with hesitation and uncertainty. It doesn’t feel natural and our steps, therefore, will be smaller. But when we walk forward, we do so with confidence and surety. Out strides are bigger and we keep moving ahead.
That's how progress happens. Not in a moment, but in a movement.
My friends at NELA, you are a vital part of that movement. And I am incredibly honored to have counted myself among the leaders and advocates of this fine organization. So, thank you for inviting me to be a part of this gathering.
This year, the U.S. Department of Labor marks it centennial anniversary. And as we celebrate 100 years of making workplaces safer, fairer, more productive and more diverse, we are mindful that we do not do this work alone.
We are joined at the federal level by partners in sister agencies like the EEOC and the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice. Together, we are partnering and collaborating in new and unprecedented ways – sharing data, collaborating on cases, conducting joint trainings for our investigators, coordinating on litigation strategies, developing unified messages and establishing programs to educate workers on their rights.
President Obama called on us to come together in order to establish a unified civil rights agenda. And that is exactly what we are doing.
But the civil rights apparatus in the federal government is just one piece of a much larger tapestry, one that includes courageous workers, grassroots activists, social scientists, community leaders, elected officials and dedicated legal professionals like all of you.
The work you do is critically important to advancing civil rights. The cases you take on, the arguments you advance and the values you help to defend are inextricably linked to the enforcement actions of agencies like mine.
The Civil Rights Act, itself, contemplates a key role for private attorneys working in concert with government agencies like the EEOC, the Justice Department and the OFCCP. We are each critical legs of the same footstool.
Dr. King famously said that, "the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends towards justice."
There is a corollary to that. As President Obama likes to remind us, it "does not bend on its own. It bends because each of us, in our own way, put our hands on that arc. We bend it in the direction of justice."
That's the beauty of what you and I get to do every day. Long after a bill gets signed into law or the rallies in front of the courthouse dissipate, we are the ones charged with implementing the law, defending it and exercising its full potential.
I know this work is not easy. And often times we do it at great personal and professional costs. But we don’t do it seeking fame. And certainly not fortune. We make the sacrifices and do the hard work because we are stewards of America’s core values. We are the arc benders who make sure that every worker is afforded the full protections of the law.
I honor your courage. I honor your sacrifice. And we see countless examples of this work.
For every Susann Bashir fighting against religious persecution, thank God there is an Amy Coopman to stand with her.
When Leticia Zuniga Escamilla had to bear degrading sexual abuse at the hands of her supervisor she was all alone. But when she courageously fought back in court, she had Lisa Stratton by her side.
And when Sandra Knott had to battle cancer AND the California Department of Corrections, she had Jill Telfer battling right there with her.
This is what we do. These are the incredible workers for whom we fight. We bend the arc. We bend it for justice.
At the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, we have been in the arc bending business for quite a while now.
Our agency is the product of the great titans – folks like A. Philip Randolph, Dr. King and Dr. Dorothy Height. The OFCCP was established by Executive Order 11246, signed by President Lyndon Johnson about a month after the Voting Rights Act became law.
The idea was pretty simple: civil rights and voting rights have to be paired with workers’ rights. Real equality means we can’t allow whole populations to languish without opportunities to find good jobs, to sustain themselves, to support their families and to join the American middle class.
In the early 1970s, OFCCP’s authorities were expanded by the Nixon administration through Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act and the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act.
To put it simply, our job is to protect workers, to promote diversity and to enforce these three laws which prohibit federal contractors and subcontractors from discriminating in their employment practices. In addition, we hold the businesses we regulate to the fair and reasonable requirement that they take affirmative action to improve employment opportunities for women, minorities, people with disabilities and protected veterans.
In the nearly four years since President Obama asked me to lead the OFCCP, I have been clear that taxpayer dollars must never be used to discriminate.
And if private companies are going to profit from public dollars, then those companies have an obligation to provide equal employment opportunity and strive to build workforces which reflect the diversity of the people who fund them.
I am privileged to work with nearly 800 talented men and women in OFCCP offices all across the country. They are on the front lines of our efforts to combat discrimination and uphold affirmative action.
Together, we protect the civil rights of the nearly one quarter of American workers who are employed by – or seek jobs with – companies that do business with the federal government. Those companies receive lucrative government contracts to do everything from constructing our office buildings and laying our IT infrastructure to supplying food on our military bases and providing legal services for federal agencies.
Sheraton Downtown Hotel – Denver, Colorado
Good afternoon. And thank you, Teri, for that kind introduction.
It's good to be here. It’s good to be among friends.
I don't have to tell you that we’ve had a rough few days, full of some pretty big setbacks when it comes to defending workers' rights. But the way I see it, after a week like this one, those of us who toil in the pursuit of civil rights and civil liberties have two options:
Either we can curl up in the fetal position and hide under the covers;
Or, we can come to Denver, meet up with 500 like-minded colleagues and start plotting the next great chapter in the history of workers' rights.
I choose the second option. And I know you do, too!
Of course, the news isn't all bad. Yesterday, our nation took a huge step forward on the issue of marriage equality, a seemingly inevitable – but once inconceivable – outcome to cases that have been working their way up through the courts for years.
I join President Obama and my colleagues throughout the administration in applauding the Supreme Court's decision to strike down the Defense of Marriage Act on constitutional grounds. And, as a Californian, I look forward to a lifetime of attending gay and lesbian weddings.
The truth is that our civil society can feel... a bit "Dickensian" these days:
It is the best of times. It is the worst of times.
It is the age of wisdom. It is the age of foolishness.
It is the epoch of Ginsburg... yeah, let’s just leave it at that.
In other words, it's a mixed bag.
But you know what gives me hope right now? A Texas State Senator named Wendy Davis.
She gives me hope.
The daughter of a single mom from Fort Worth Texas, Senator Davis became pregnant at age 19 and a single mom, herself. Undeterred by her circumstances, she enrolled in a local college, transferred to a university and became the first college graduate in her family. She went on to Harvard Law School and, eventually, a career in public service.
Two days ago, 50-year-old Wendy Davis, stood on the floor of the Texas State Senate. She stood for almost 13 hours. She stood without water. She stood without a bathroom break. She stood and she stood and she talked and she talked...
She spoke about the responsibility of government to protect women’s health and our reproductive rights. And – with a little help from her friends – she managed to stand just long enough to help run out the clock on a special session of the Texas legislature. Through her filibuster, the gentlewoman from Fort Worth helped defeat one of the most restrictive anti-abortion bills in the state’s history.
I salute Senator Wendy Davis. I salute her heroism and her advocacy on behalf of countless Texas women.
And I stand with her. On principle.
But here's the thing about standing on principle: Like Senator Davis, you have to remain standing.
You have to stay vigilant.
The only way to safeguard the hard-won civil rights of the 20th century is to fight like hell for them in the 21st century.
That's what I’ve learned this week.
And, in case it helps, I was reminded by a colleague at the EEOC that we have lived through these kinds of setbacks before. And time and time again, we’ve been able to overcome them.
Just a few years ago, a trilogy of court rulings – including the Sutton case – narrowed rights for people with disabilities. Those cases, however, ended up giving birth to the ADA Amendments Act of 2008. It was passed by a Republican Congress and signed by a Republican president.
Ledbetter vs. Goodyear effectively closed the courtroom doors to many victims of pay discrimination. That was until the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act was passed by a Democratic Congress and signed by a Democratic president.
Remember that the work of forming a more perfect union is never finished. Two steps forward, three steps back, right?
I suppose it can sometimes feel that way.
But have you ever actually tried taking two steps forward and three steps back? I bet that if you keep doing it over and over again, your net trajectory will be forward.
You know why?
Because when we move backward, it is with hesitation and uncertainty. It doesn’t feel natural and our steps, therefore, will be smaller. But when we walk forward, we do so with confidence and surety. Out strides are bigger and we keep moving ahead.
That's how progress happens. Not in a moment, but in a movement.
My friends at NELA, you are a vital part of that movement. And I am incredibly honored to have counted myself among the leaders and advocates of this fine organization. So, thank you for inviting me to be a part of this gathering.
This year, the U.S. Department of Labor marks it centennial anniversary. And as we celebrate 100 years of making workplaces safer, fairer, more productive and more diverse, we are mindful that we do not do this work alone.
We are joined at the federal level by partners in sister agencies like the EEOC and the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice. Together, we are partnering and collaborating in new and unprecedented ways – sharing data, collaborating on cases, conducting joint trainings for our investigators, coordinating on litigation strategies, developing unified messages and establishing programs to educate workers on their rights.
President Obama called on us to come together in order to establish a unified civil rights agenda. And that is exactly what we are doing.
But the civil rights apparatus in the federal government is just one piece of a much larger tapestry, one that includes courageous workers, grassroots activists, social scientists, community leaders, elected officials and dedicated legal professionals like all of you.
The work you do is critically important to advancing civil rights. The cases you take on, the arguments you advance and the values you help to defend are inextricably linked to the enforcement actions of agencies like mine.
The Civil Rights Act, itself, contemplates a key role for private attorneys working in concert with government agencies like the EEOC, the Justice Department and the OFCCP. We are each critical legs of the same footstool.
Dr. King famously said that, "the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends towards justice."
There is a corollary to that. As President Obama likes to remind us, it "does not bend on its own. It bends because each of us, in our own way, put our hands on that arc. We bend it in the direction of justice."
That's the beauty of what you and I get to do every day. Long after a bill gets signed into law or the rallies in front of the courthouse dissipate, we are the ones charged with implementing the law, defending it and exercising its full potential.
I know this work is not easy. And often times we do it at great personal and professional costs. But we don’t do it seeking fame. And certainly not fortune. We make the sacrifices and do the hard work because we are stewards of America’s core values. We are the arc benders who make sure that every worker is afforded the full protections of the law.
I honor your courage. I honor your sacrifice. And we see countless examples of this work.
For every Susann Bashir fighting against religious persecution, thank God there is an Amy Coopman to stand with her.
When Leticia Zuniga Escamilla had to bear degrading sexual abuse at the hands of her supervisor she was all alone. But when she courageously fought back in court, she had Lisa Stratton by her side.
And when Sandra Knott had to battle cancer AND the California Department of Corrections, she had Jill Telfer battling right there with her.
This is what we do. These are the incredible workers for whom we fight. We bend the arc. We bend it for justice.
At the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, we have been in the arc bending business for quite a while now.
Our agency is the product of the great titans – folks like A. Philip Randolph, Dr. King and Dr. Dorothy Height. The OFCCP was established by Executive Order 11246, signed by President Lyndon Johnson about a month after the Voting Rights Act became law.
The idea was pretty simple: civil rights and voting rights have to be paired with workers’ rights. Real equality means we can’t allow whole populations to languish without opportunities to find good jobs, to sustain themselves, to support their families and to join the American middle class.
In the early 1970s, OFCCP’s authorities were expanded by the Nixon administration through Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act and the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act.
To put it simply, our job is to protect workers, to promote diversity and to enforce these three laws which prohibit federal contractors and subcontractors from discriminating in their employment practices. In addition, we hold the businesses we regulate to the fair and reasonable requirement that they take affirmative action to improve employment opportunities for women, minorities, people with disabilities and protected veterans.
In the nearly four years since President Obama asked me to lead the OFCCP, I have been clear that taxpayer dollars must never be used to discriminate.
And if private companies are going to profit from public dollars, then those companies have an obligation to provide equal employment opportunity and strive to build workforces which reflect the diversity of the people who fund them.
I am privileged to work with nearly 800 talented men and women in OFCCP offices all across the country. They are on the front lines of our efforts to combat discrimination and uphold affirmative action.
Together, we protect the civil rights of the nearly one quarter of American workers who are employed by – or seek jobs with – companies that do business with the federal government. Those companies receive lucrative government contracts to do everything from constructing our office buildings and laying our IT infrastructure to supplying food on our military bases and providing legal services for federal agencies.
To read the remainder of Shiu's speech, visit http://www.dol.gov/ofccp.
Thursday, July 11, 2013
Repost: Bill helps women, minorities get into construction trades
Oregon just passed legislation to use federal highway funds for pre-apprenticeship programs! This is just one option that states have to promote workforce diversity in the construction field.
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By Wendy Culverwell, Real Estate Daily editor
Portland Business Journal
The Oregon Department of Transportation will spend up to $2.1 million in federal funds on programs that help women and minorities prepare for the construction trades under a bill headed to Gov. John Kitzhaber.
Senate Bill 831A, which passed in the Senate on June 29 and the House on July 2, directs the state transportation agency to spend federal funds on pre-apprenticeship training programs to increase diversity in the state’s construction workforce.
Under the current law, ODOT is authorized to use federal highway funds to involve more women and minorities in workforce training programs.
The bill provides a 40 percent increase in funding for programs that serve women and minority groups.
“These additional funds will allow us to expand our programs to women in under-served parts of the state,” said Connie Ashbrook, executive director of Oregon Tradeswomen Inc.
The bill passed in the Senate with a 28-1 vote and in the House with a 54-1 vote.
The Oregon Department of Transportation will spend up to $2.1 million in federal funds on programs that help women and minorities prepare for the construction trades under a bill headed to Gov. John Kitzhaber.
Senate Bill 831A, which passed in the Senate on June 29 and the House on July 2, directs the state transportation agency to spend federal funds on pre-apprenticeship training programs to increase diversity in the state’s construction workforce.
Under the current law, ODOT is authorized to use federal highway funds to involve more women and minorities in workforce training programs.
The bill provides a 40 percent increase in funding for programs that serve women and minority groups.
“These additional funds will allow us to expand our programs to women in under-served parts of the state,” said Connie Ashbrook, executive director of Oregon Tradeswomen Inc.
The bill passed in the Senate with a 28-1 vote and in the House with a 54-1 vote.
View the original article at http://www.bizjournals.com/portland.
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
Repost: Suffolk Construction offers training to minority and women contractors
Great free training opportunity for MBEs and WBEs in Boston! Check out the qualifying information below.
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July 8, 2013
By John Ruch
Suffolk Construction, Boston’s largest construction firm, is inviting Jamaica Plain minority- and women-owned subcontractor firms to a special course in how to do business on Suffolk projects.
The lack of opportunity for such firms on Boston construction projects has been longtime controversy, including recently in Jackson Square spanning JP and Roxbury. Suffolk started its “Subcontractor Development Series” program last year to help create such opportunities on its projects.
The free, eight-week program will be held in Roxbury starting Sept. 5. It will be limited to 30 participants and the application deadline is Aug. 2.
Applicants can be union or non-union subcontractors that are certified by the Massachusetts Supplier Diversity Office as a Disadvantaged Business Enterprise, a Minority Business Enterprise or a Women Owned Business Enterprise. The firms must have been in business for at least two years.
The program includes classes in dealing with Suffolk, managing a project, finances and accessing capital, among other topics. Graduates will receive a certificate and direct access to Suffolk experts. The classes will be led by Suffolk executives and other industry experts.
While the course is open to all qualified subcontractors, Suffolk issued a press release to the Gazette specifically pointing out that “Jamaica Plain area” firms are welcome.
The course is the second form of community-improvement outreach from Suffolk in JP in recent weeks. Suffolk CEO John Fish last month proposed a multi-million-dollar renovation of Franklin Park’s White Stadium through a nonprofit he founded.
The lack of opportunity for such firms on Boston construction projects has been longtime controversy, including recently in Jackson Square spanning JP and Roxbury. Suffolk started its “Subcontractor Development Series” program last year to help create such opportunities on its projects.
The free, eight-week program will be held in Roxbury starting Sept. 5. It will be limited to 30 participants and the application deadline is Aug. 2.
Applicants can be union or non-union subcontractors that are certified by the Massachusetts Supplier Diversity Office as a Disadvantaged Business Enterprise, a Minority Business Enterprise or a Women Owned Business Enterprise. The firms must have been in business for at least two years.
The program includes classes in dealing with Suffolk, managing a project, finances and accessing capital, among other topics. Graduates will receive a certificate and direct access to Suffolk experts. The classes will be led by Suffolk executives and other industry experts.
While the course is open to all qualified subcontractors, Suffolk issued a press release to the Gazette specifically pointing out that “Jamaica Plain area” firms are welcome.
The course is the second form of community-improvement outreach from Suffolk in JP in recent weeks. Suffolk CEO John Fish last month proposed a multi-million-dollar renovation of Franklin Park’s White Stadium through a nonprofit he founded.
See the original article at http://jamaicaplaingazette.com. Get more information about the Subcontractor Development Series at http://www.suffolkconstruction.com. Fill out your application at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/VQMWD8P.
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
Repost: NH gender wage gap higher than national average
PGTI's own Elizabeth Skidmore recently served on a panel discussion about the wide wage gap between men and women in New Hampshire. Check out the article below to learn about the wage equality that's happening in the construction trades and how we can narrow the wage gap for all women.
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By JENNIFER JANIAK
The wage gap between men and women has remained an unresolved social issue for decades, but Granite State women face even greater inequality in the workforce than others across the country.
New Hampshire women earn 77 cents for every dollar New Hampshire men earn, a 5 cent larger gap than the national average, according to the New Hampshire Women’s Initiative.
“It’s clear that there is a growing gap between men and women in the workforce today,” Mark MacKenzie, president of NH AFL-CIO, said Wednesday night at a forum titled “Women, Work, and Wages,” held at Saint Anselm College’s Institute for Politics to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Equal Pay Act. “As of the last few years, it’s not had the kind of profile I think it should have. When you talk to the general public about this, it touches everyone.”
Four speakers addressed the wage gap with a variety of statistical findings, mostly focusing on the reason for women’s 23 percent wage loss.
About 14 cents of the loss-per-hour can be attributed to reasons like workforce participation, education attainment, industry and occupation, type of employer, and the preference for flexible work, according to Judy Stadtman of New Hampshire AFL-CIO. For example, Stadtman said that women tend to make up the majority of employees in lower paying sectors, such as elementary and secondary education and certain health care sectors.
“Even the 14 cents that is attributable … to career paths and lifestyle choices, we also need to understand that some of those career paths and lifestyle choices are because of sexism,” Liz Skidmore, one of the speakers, said. “Women grow up and think the only thing they can be is XYZ and … don’t do all the other things.”
However, the remainder of the gap, the other 9 cents, remains unexplained.
Skidmore is a business manager in the Carpenters Local 118 and has worked in carpentry for about 25 years.
Carpentry and construction are among the few job sectors in which women are paid equal to their male peers, she said.
“In union construction, women make exactly the same as men,” Skidmore said. “Starting 35 years ago, when women started getting into construction. Every hour we work, every dollar we get paid, we get paid exactly the same.”
The type of employer chosen by women, another factor Stadtman attributed to the wage gap, also differs from men. More women tend to work for nonprofit organizations and local and state government, while men dominate federal government jobs and the self-employment sector.
In attendance was newly appointed Labor Commissioner James Craig, who asked what can be done to solve the wage gap. While the four speakers offered different solutions, they all agreed that no single, or immediate, solution exists.
“There is no silver bullet to any of this stuff,” Skidmore said. “If there were, we would have solved it already. So what we’ve found is that if you can pull together a group of stake holders from long-term engagement on this … it’s not something that we can solve in one evening, but there absolutely are solutions and when we can bring people together, break down those aisles of expertise, and work toward it, that’s when I think exciting things happen.”
Read the remainder of this article at http://www.nashuatelegraph.com.
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