Event Recap: "Paving the Way for Women in Construction" Webinar

"Paving the Way for Women in Construction: Creating Systems and Supports that Work," an October 1, 2014 webinar hosted by the United States Department of Labor Women's Bureau, the Institute for Women's Policy Research, the National Women's Law Center, Wider Opportunities for Women, and Oregon Tradeswomen, Inc. "explored ways to increase women's participation, retention, and success in the construction industry." The webinar included a discussion of two new reports, the Institute for Women's Policy Research's results from a survey of tradeswomen and the National Women's Law Center's report on challenges and pathways for women to access higher-paying jobs, as well as best practices in recruitment, training, retention, and technical assistance regarding increasing women's representation in the construction workforce.

For more information about this recent webinar, visit www.dol.gov/wb/.

Upcoming Event: USDOL Women's Bureau's Boston Regional Forum on Working Families

The US Department of Labor Women's Bureau will be hosting a Boston Regional Forum to "identify initiatives that benefit America's working families, businesses and economy." The event will be held:

May 19, 2014

9:30am-12:30pm

JFK Federal Building

25 New Sudbury St

Boston, MA 02203

Visit the USDOL website to register by May 17th, get more information about the Boston Regional Forum, or learn more about the White House Summit.

Save the Date: "Building Economic Security for Low-Income Women" Roundtable on Fri, 9/27/13, 9:30-11:30am

Budget Buddies

Center for Women & Work at University of MA, Lowell

Jeanne D’Arc Credit Union

The U.S. Department of Labor Women’s Bureau

INVITE YOU TO AN IMPORTANT ROUNDTABLE:

BUILDING ECONOMIC SECURITY FOR LOW-INCOME WOMEN

Friday, September 27, 2013

9:30 to 11:30 a.m.

Corporate Offices of Jeanne D’Arc Credit Union

257 Father Morissette Blvd, Lowell, MA

The roundtable will bring thought leaders in the Greater Lowell area together to discuss potential pathways to financial stability for low-income women once they’ve learned essential money-management skills. During this time we will break into four work groups that will consider the following topics:

   1) How do we help women find flexible work situations?
   2) How can women qualify for higher-paying jobs?
   3) What opportunities are available for women in “green” jobs?
   4) How can we help homeless women veterans reenter the work force?

Attendance is free but registration is required. Space limited to 25

RSVP: To register, please send an e-mail to kathrynbrough@verizon.net by close of business on September 23 and include your name, organization, and telephone number. Please also indicate your preference(s), if any, for the work group you’d like to join.

Save the Date: 9/20/13 USDOL Women's Bureau & The Construction Institute Will Host "Engaging Women for STEM, Non-Traditional, and Green Careers"

THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR WOMEN’S BUREAU & THE CONSTRUCTION INSTITUTE INVITES YOU TO AN IMPORTANT ROUNDTABLE: ENGAGING WOMEN FOR STEM, NON-TRADITIONAL, AND GREEN CAREERS 

The roundtable will bring together leaders in the Metro Boston area to discuss potential pathways for women to become involved in careers related to science, technology, math, and engineering (STEM). This discussion will also draw on ideas for engaging women in green and non-traditional careers. Some of the topic questions to be considered are:

1. How can women qualify for STEM, Non-Traditional, and Green Careers? 
2. What opportunities are available for women in “green” jobs and STEM? 
3. How can we help women transition from traditional occupations to non-traditional ones? 

DATE: Tuesday, September 20, 2013

TIME: 9:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.

WHERE: Sheet Metal Workers Training Center, 1181 Adams St. Dorchester 

Attendance is free but registration is required. Space limited to 25.

RSVP: To register, please send an e-mail to Rizzolo.Angela@dol.gov by close of business hours on September 18 and include your name, organization, and telephone number.

For questions, please call: Angela Rizzolo @ 617-565-1988.

Our special thanks to the Sheet Metal Workers Training Center for co-hosting this roundtable.

US Department of Labor announces $300,000 grant to Action for Boston Community Development Inc. to support women in nontraditional occupations

WASHINGTON ‒ Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis announced awards of $1.8 million in grants to consortia in six states through the Women in Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Occupations program.  Among the grantees is Action for Boston Community Development Inc. in Boston, Mass., which will receive $300,000.

“Apprenticeship programs are effective pipelines into growing industries. But too often, these programs are not as accessible to women. The federal grants announced today will better connect women with apprenticeships, helping them to gain skills in fields that offer long-term career opportunities,” said Secretary Solis. 

The grants will support innovative projects that improve the recruitment, hiring, training, employment and retention of women in apprenticeships in industries such as advanced manufacturing, transportation and construction. Within these industries, the grants will fund activities focused on three occupational areas: existing occupations expected to experience primarily an increase in employment demand, existing occupations with significant changes to work and worker requirements, and new and emerging green occupations.

The six grantees are community-based organizations, each of which has formed a consortium with a local Workforce Investment Area and at least one Registered Apprenticeship program sponsor. This consortium-based approach is intended to ensure that women served by WANTO grants have access to a range of supportive services and training, as well as to specific nontraditional employment opportunities.

Each grantee will be required to place at least 50 participants annually and at least 100 participants over the life of the two-year grant into a Registered Apprenticeship program. 

The grants are jointly administered by the Labor Department’s Women’s Bureau and its Employment and Training Administration’s Office of Apprenticeship. For information about the department’s range of employment and training programs, visit http://www.doleta.gov.

Women in Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Occupations Grants

Grantee City    State   Funding Amount 
Action for Boston Community Development Inc.    Boston  Mass.   $300,000       
Chicago Women in Trades Chicago Ill.    $300,000       
Goodwill of North Georgia  Inc. Atlanta Ga.     $300,000       
Oregon Tradeswomen Inc. Portland        Ore.    $300,000       
West Virginia Women Work        Morgantown      W.Va.   $300,000       
Women In Non Traditional Employment Roles       Los Angeles     Calif.  $300,000       
Total   $1,800,000     

# # #

U.S. Department of Labor news materials are accessible at http://www.dol.gov. The information above is available in large print, Braille or CD from the COAST office upon request by calling 202-693-7828 or TTY 202-693-7755. 

Equal Pay Day: Women's Bureau Tool Kit

Equal Pay Tool Kit

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"Generations of women have fought for the advancement of their sisters, daughters, and themselves in acts of great courage -- reaching for and winning the right to vote, breaking barriers in America's universities and boardrooms, and flooding the modern workforce with skilled talent. While our Nation has come far, obstacles continue to exist for working women, who still earn less on average than working men. Each year, National Equal Pay Day reflects how far into the current year women must work to match what men earned in the previous year. On National Equal Pay Day, we rededicate ourselves to carrying forward the fight for true economic equality for all, regardless of gender."
— President Barack Obama's proclamation NATIONAL EQUAL PAY DAY, 2011

While women hold nearly half of today's jobs, and their earnings account for a significant portion of the household income that sustains the financial well-being of their families, they are still experiencing a gap in pay compared to men's wages for similar work.

When the Equal Pay Act was signed into law by President Kennedy almost 50 years ago, women were earning an average of 59 cents on the dollar compared to men. Today, we have narrowed that gap, but women still earn about 80 cents on the dollar compared to men. That gap results in the loss of $380,000 over a woman's career. The pay gap is even larger for African-American women (earning about 70 cents), and Latinas (about 60 cents on the dollar).

The documents included here show the work done and the work to be done toward closing the pay gap.

• White House Proclamation: 2011 Equal Pay Day Proclamation (PDF)
• Statement by Secretary Solis on 2011 Equal Pay Day (doc)
• Equal Pay: White House Fact Sheet (doc)
• Equal Pay: White House Fact Sheet (PDF)
• All Equal Pay Fact Sheets 2011 (PDF)
• Highlights of Women's Earnings by region
• Region I: Boston (PDF)
• Region II: New York (PDF)
• Region III: Philadelphia (PDF)
• Region IV: Atlanta (PDF)
• Region V: Chicago (PDF)
• Region VI: Dallas (PDF)
• Region VII: Kansas City (PDF)
• Region VIII: Denver (PDF)
• Region IX: San Francisco (PDF)
• Region X: Seattle (PDF)
• Lost Earnings Chart (April 2011) (xls)
• Lost Earnings Chart (April 2011) (PDF)
• Gender Wage-Gap Chart (April 2011) (xls)
• Gender Wage-Gap Chart (April 2011) (PDF)

Retrieved from: http://www.dol.gov/wb/equal-pay/equal-pay-toolkit-20110412.htm

WANTO Grant Application: Availability of Funds and Solicitation for Grant Applications for Women in Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Occupations (WANTO)

Retrieved from: http://www.doleta.gov/grants/pdf/wanto_sga_dfa_py_11_10.pdf


Submit your grant application today!

Funding Opportunity Number:  SGA/DFA PY-11-10
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number:  17.201

Key Dates: The closing date for receipt of applications under this announcement is May 21,
2012.  Applications must be received no later than 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

Addresses: Mailed applications must be addressed to the U.S. Department of Labor,
Employment and Training Administration, Office of Grants Management, Attention:  Latifa
Jeter, Grant Officer, Reference SGA/DFA PY 11-10, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW, Room
N4716, Washington, DC 20210.  For complete application and submission information, 
including online application instructions, please refer to section IV.

Summary:
The Women’s Bureau (WB) and the Employment and Training Administration’s (ETA) Office
of Apprenticeship (OA), U.S. Department of Labor (DOL, or the Department), announces the
availability of approximately
$1,800,000 in grant funds authorized under the WANTO Act of 1992, Public Law 102-530, 29
USC 2501 et seq.  To that end, the OA and WB plan to disburse Program Year (PY) 2011 and
2012 WANTO grant funds to six consortia made up of a community-based organization (CBO),
a Local Workforce Investment Area (LWIA) established under the Workforce Investment Act
(WIA) and a registered apprenticeship program (RAP) sponsor.  Each consortium will conduct
innovative projects to improve outreach, recruitment, hiring, training, employment, and retention
of women in apprenticeships in the nontraditional occupations, as defined in Section IX of this
solicitation.

Each CBO, LWIA and RAP consortium must consist of a minimum of  three
components:  1) a CBO (which may be a faith-based organization (FBO)) that has demonstrated
experience in providing women with job-training services; 2) a LWIA (which includes a
representative of the local government responsible for administering workforce programs under
WIA or Workforce Investment Board); and (3) a RAP sponsor (which can be an individual
employer, association of employers, or an apprenticeship committee which includes joint and
non-joint committees designated by the sponsor to administer and operate an apprenticeship
program and in whose name the apprenticeship program is registered or approved).  It is
anticipated that awards will be in the amount of up to $300,000 over the two-year grant period.
The grants will be awarded in June 2012 and funded over a two-year period

Complete information is available at http://www.doleta.gov/grants/pdf/wanto_sga_dfa_py_11_10.pdf

Women's Bureau Funding to be Drastically Reduced! Act Now!

 

ISSUE ALERT The National Association of Commissions for Women (NACW) has a long history of successful collaboration with the Women's Bureau, U.S. Department of Labor.  Indeed, the Women's Bureau Regional Administrators were instrumental in establishing commissions for women in the early 1960s.  President Obama has proposed a 37% reduction in Women's Bureau staffing, downsizing the regional offices from 10 to 6, and an overall 22% funding reduction. NACW strongly opposes these severe reductions and has sent letters to President Obama and Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis.  NACW has also provided written testimony for the upcoming hearing by the House Budget Appropriation Committee on Thursday, March 29.  This testimony is available  HERE . Time is of the essence - help protect the budget of the Women's Bureau, DoL and the voice of the ONLY federal office concerned exclusively with serving and promoting the interests of female workers. Suggestions on how to use this information: Write a letter to President Obama expressing your opposition to these cuts.                                    The President                The White House                1600 Pennsylvania Avenue                Washington, DC  20500                Send a copy of the letter to the Secretary of Labor                The Honorable Hilda Solis                Secretary of Labor                200 Constitution Ave., NW                Washington, DC 20210  Send written testimony (no more than 5 pages, one-sided, double-spaced) by March 28 to lh.approp@mail.house.gov Use information in NACW's testimony to write an op-ed for your local newspaper Send letters to your state's House of Representatives and Senators Contact your Department of Labor, Women's Bureau Regional Administrator (contact information HERE) to see how you can support the effort to reinstate funding Reach out to other women's commissions in your region (NACW is divided into the same 10 regions as the Women's Bureau; information HERE) to see how you can join efforts to bring attention to this critical issue.

friend on Facebook | forward to a friend  Our mailing address is: 201 Hunters Crossing Blvd., Suite 10-172 Bastrop, TX  78602 855.703.NACW www.nacw.org info@nacw.org

US Labor Department's Women's Bureau hosts ‘HerSTORY' conference at Northeastern University in Boston on Friday, Feb. 11

Please join U.S. Department of Labor Women’s Bureau

National Director Sara Manzano-Diaz

on

Friday, February 11, 2011 • 8:30 am – 12:00 pm

Imparting a Legacy of Change

Women Working Together: Writing the Next Chapter of herSTORY

An Intergenerational Dialogue

Northeastern University - Curry Student Center

360 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115

Join us for a morning of networking and inspiration! Come together to learn

and be inspired by women who have overcome barriers and young women

who are achieving educational and career success their mothers could never

have dreamed.

To register for this free conference, please complete the attached

form and e-mail to Jacqueline Cooke

cooke.jacqueline@dol.gov

or fax: 617-565-1986

If you need any special services, accommodations, or have

questions, please call 617-565-1988.

Here is a link to the flyer, including the short registration form for this free conference.

Color Magazine provides even more info about the event.

"The conference is being held to honor and celebrate the legacy of these accomplished women, and to encourage more intergenerational dialogue and mentorship"

.