Hammering it Out: Women in the Construction Zone (2000)
Director Vivian Price
You can find it online at a page named movieflix.com. It is about the Century Freeway Pre-apprentice Program and contains a lot of good information, shots of the kind of training, and information on the numbers.
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Links for more info:
http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/labor_studies_journal/v029/29.4laporte.html
http://www.uwosh.edu/filmandhistory/documentary/labor/hammering.php
You can find it online at a page named movieflix.com. It is about the Century Freeway Pre-apprentice Program and contains a lot of good information, shots of the kind of training, and information on the numbers.
--
Links for more info:
http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/labor_studies_journal/v029/29.4laporte.html
http://www.uwosh.edu/filmandhistory/documentary/labor/hammering.php
A great PDF, including additional resources
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Prefer to read? Here you go!
Hammering It Out, Women In The Construction Zone (Directed by Vivian Price, 2000) This documentary explores the experiences of women recruited into a
construction training program mandated by a California state court
consent decree. The consent decree required that ten percent of the work
hours in the $2.2 billion Century Freeway Project in Los Angeles were to
be performed by women and sixty-five percent by minorities. Although the video focuses on the Century Freeway Project, the insights into the struggles women face in entering the construction industry are universal.
One-hundred-twenty women began the pre-apprenticeship training program.
Participants hammered nails, shoveled sand, carried lumber, moved cinder
blocks and completed a timed framing exercise. The women lifted weights,
ran, and did sit-ups to improve their strength, flexibility and
endurance. The physical challenges were compounded by the rarity of
women on a construction site. Many women found themselves to be the sole
female on the job.
The women speak eloquently about their experiences. Denise Johnson talks
about the strenuous physical challenges faced by ironworkers, while
operating engineer, Cynthia Cruz, discusses the value of experience and
learning on the job. All of the women speak about the challenges they
had to overcome to succeed, ranging from childcare and transportation,
to obtaining the clothing and work boots required for construction jobs,
to gaining acceptance from male co-workers. Many of the female
construction workers faced hazing, poor job assignments, and sexual
harassment.
The program included support groups for the female construction workers
to share their experiences and gain advice and support in handling
workplace challenges as well as site inspections to ensure compliance
with the court order. In the final analysis, women worked 9.2% of the
hours worked on the Century Freeway project. They acquired skills and
experience preparing them for additional job opportunities and earned
wages up to $22 per hour.
However, these gains appeared to expire with the completion of the
freeway project. The California Department of Transportation's
requirement to employ 6.9% female workers on all highway projects was
viewed as the mechanism to ensure that women workers would have the
opportunity for continued employment on state-funded highway projects.
But gender and minority set-aside program on public construction
projects were terminated by the passage of Proposition 209, which
prohibited the use of race or gender in employing workers on state
funded highway projects. Ultimately only eight to ten of the original
one hundred-twenty pre-apprenticeship class members were able to secure
continuing employment in the construction industry.
This video could be used for classes on women workers in non-traditional
careers, civil rights, affirmative action and the construction industry
in general. However, it may be best suited to classes focusing on the critical importance of public policy and political action. Affirmative action programs offered women the opportunity to enter the previously closed field of construction and demonstrate their ability to perform this well-paid work. Absent such programs, women have had little opportunity to enter the construction industry.
Philip A. LaPorte Georgia State University plaporte@gsu.edu
--
Prefer to read? Here you go!
Hammering It Out, Women In The Construction Zone (Directed by Vivian Price, 2000) This documentary explores the experiences of women recruited into a
construction training program mandated by a California state court
consent decree. The consent decree required that ten percent of the work
hours in the $2.2 billion Century Freeway Project in Los Angeles were to
be performed by women and sixty-five percent by minorities. Although the video focuses on the Century Freeway Project, the insights into the struggles women face in entering the construction industry are universal.
One-hundred-twenty women began the pre-apprenticeship training program.
Participants hammered nails, shoveled sand, carried lumber, moved cinder
blocks and completed a timed framing exercise. The women lifted weights,
ran, and did sit-ups to improve their strength, flexibility and
endurance. The physical challenges were compounded by the rarity of
women on a construction site. Many women found themselves to be the sole
female on the job.
The women speak eloquently about their experiences. Denise Johnson talks
about the strenuous physical challenges faced by ironworkers, while
operating engineer, Cynthia Cruz, discusses the value of experience and
learning on the job. All of the women speak about the challenges they
had to overcome to succeed, ranging from childcare and transportation,
to obtaining the clothing and work boots required for construction jobs,
to gaining acceptance from male co-workers. Many of the female
construction workers faced hazing, poor job assignments, and sexual
harassment.
The program included support groups for the female construction workers
to share their experiences and gain advice and support in handling
workplace challenges as well as site inspections to ensure compliance
with the court order. In the final analysis, women worked 9.2% of the
hours worked on the Century Freeway project. They acquired skills and
experience preparing them for additional job opportunities and earned
wages up to $22 per hour.
However, these gains appeared to expire with the completion of the
freeway project. The California Department of Transportation's
requirement to employ 6.9% female workers on all highway projects was
viewed as the mechanism to ensure that women workers would have the
opportunity for continued employment on state-funded highway projects.
But gender and minority set-aside program on public construction
projects were terminated by the passage of Proposition 209, which
prohibited the use of race or gender in employing workers on state
funded highway projects. Ultimately only eight to ten of the original
one hundred-twenty pre-apprenticeship class members were able to secure
continuing employment in the construction industry.
This video could be used for classes on women workers in non-traditional
careers, civil rights, affirmative action and the construction industry
in general. However, it may be best suited to classes focusing on the critical importance of public policy and political action. Affirmative action programs offered women the opportunity to enter the previously closed field of construction and demonstrate their ability to perform this well-paid work. Absent such programs, women have had little opportunity to enter the construction industry.
Philip A. LaPorte Georgia State University plaporte@gsu.edu
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