Repost: Lessons from returning women migrant workers

A recent article in The Phnom Penh Post illuminates the importance of protecting Cambodian women who face many challenges and dangers while they migrate to and from worksites in Thailand:

"Chandy’s story was positive – she received her wages, retained her belongings and returned to Cambodia unharmed. But in crossing into Thailand as an irregular migrant, there were no guarantees of her safety or protection. Indeed, many of Chandy’s fellow returnees had much darker stories to tell." (Holliday, 10 Sept. 2014)

Chandy's story is just one of many women who overcome barriers to earn a living for themselves and their families.

Visit http://www.phnompenhpost.com/ to read the full article. 

Repost: Weighed Down

In India, women (who make up about 50% of construction workers there) are told that they "aren't smart enough" to do the skilled construction work. In the United States, women are told they "aren't strong enough" to really do construction.

Do all the smart women live in the United States and all the strong women live in India? We think not.

------------------------------------------------------------

The HinduPhoto: Mohammed Yousuf

The construction industry in India has always been male-dominated, with men doing the more skilled jobs and women reduced to unskilled labour. Women are involved mostly in physical work such as carrying construction material, breaking bricks and rocks, cleaning, etc. However, women construction labourers often face discrimination in wage payment. It has been found that women workers are usually paid 40 to 60 per cent less than men; sometimes even below the minimum wages set by the government.

Apart from that, there are hardly separate facilities like toilets, first-aid and child care for the women workforce at construction sites. Women labourers work under serious life and health risks with no safety gear and a polluted environment.

In the photograph, the camera captures women toiling at a construction site in Hyderabad.

Visit http://www.thehindu.com to view the original article.

Repost: Alliance Seeks to Improve Conditions for Female Construction Workers

OSHA announced the alliance and its new website for this purpose on Aug. 22.

OSHA has signed an alliance with the National Association of Women in Construction to develop training resources to protect female construction workers. It will focus on musculoskeletal and sanitation hazards and issues related to poorly-fitting PPE, and OSHA has created a related website.

"Safety and health problems in construction create barriers to women entering and remaining in this field," said Assistant Secretary Dr. David Michaels. "Through this alliance, we will work together to forge innovative solutions to improve the safety, health, and working conditions for women in the construction trades and retain female workers during a critical time of job shortages in this industry."

The two-year agreement is intended to develop training programs, fact sheets, and other outreach resources. Following a recommendation from its Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health, OSHA created the Women in Construction Web page, a site that outlines and addresses safety and health issues specific to female workers in this industry.

For more information on the alliance, visit OSHA's new Women in Construction webpage or this description of the alliance.

View the original article at http://ohsonline.com.

Union aims to smooth trades work for women

http://www.windsorstar.com/business/Union+aims+smooth+trades+work+women/5667498/story.html

BY BILL MAH, POSTMEDIA NEWS NOVEMBER 7, 2011 

• STORY
• PHOTOS ( 1 )

"Women's issues are not necessarily the same as male issues on a job site and in non-traditional occupations," says Martyn Piper, executive secretary of the Alberta Regional Council of Carpenters and Allied Workers.

Photograph by: Bruce Edwards, Postmedia News, Postmedia News

Some of the challenges faced by women working in the trades might never occur to a man.

"Harnesses," said Margaret McDonald, a scaffolder from Fort McMurray.

"The harnesses for when we climb high steel. Trying to make sure a company has the right size to fit women. It's little things like that."

McDonald said most employers are usually "pretty good" about having their safety officers supply harnesses fitted for women. "It might take a while before you get it."

But not all issues faced by women in the trades are as easily fixed.

More than 100 people, mostly women working in non-traditional jobs, took part in a recent conference looking at how job sites meet the unique needs of women.

The Women's Conference hosted by the Alberta Regional Council of Carpenters and Allied Workers, a union representing 11,500 Albertans - including about 480 women. The event for networking and education came six months after the union created a women's committee to help female members play a bigger role in an industry dominated by men.

"Women's issues are not necessarily the same as male issues on a job site and in non-traditional occupations," said Martyn Piper, the union's executive secretary.

Journeyman scaffolder Brandi Thorne, chair of the women's committee, originally studied at university to become a statistician, but an opportunity came up to work in the same field as her husband.

"Some of the differences are that we tend to live with a higher demand for family and child care, elder care, and we have different physical needs," Thorne said of men and women.

The conference offered workshops on issues such as parenting and pregnancy, fitness and nutrition, respect in the workplace and effective communication, and as well as talks from government, labour and industry representatives.

"The weekend is also about finding the voices of women and what are the barriers that exist out there and what would the solutions be to break down those barriers and get more women - and keep more women in construction," Thorne said.

Alberta in particular and industry in general have been trying to coax more women and more aboriginals to enter the trades as a worker shortage looms.

In 2010, 17,400 Albertans retired, 2,300 more than in 2009, and about 190,000 are expected to retire in the next 10 years. The province says Alberta will face a shortage of at least 77,000 workers in the next decade.

© Copyright (c) The Windsor Star

Read more:http://www.windsorstar.com/life/Union+aims+smooth+trades+work+women/5667498/story.html#ixzz1d2YqCZ3r

Female Tradesworkers Run Special Safety Risks

By K. Aleisha Fetters

WeNews correspondent

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Female tradeswomen contend with numerous safety risks tied to their scarcity in the building sector. The bad economy is only making matters worse, says a leading researcher and writer on women in these nontraditional fields.

(WOMENSENEWS)--When Elizabeth Fox, 44, was completing her electrician apprenticeship, male coworkers hid their work from her so she couldn't see what they were doing. That made it difficult to learn how to use the trade's tools, especially since they didn't fit her hands.

Twenty-four years later, she has punctured cartilage in her shoulder, a crushed ulna nerve canal in her elbow, tendinosis in her forearm, atrophy in her arm, meniscus damages and has had two knee surgeries.

"I want to make sure that women in the business don't make the same mistakes I did," Fox said. "Women need to work smarter, not harder."

Professional grade work tools are made to fit men's hands. Even those advertised as being ergonomically safe are only so for the average man's hands and body.