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.

Repost: Council addresses how to diversify workforce on city construction projects

An ordinance to increase diversity within the construction workforce is being considered by Seattle's City Council!
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by: Aaron Burkhalter, Staff Reporter

People of color and women make up a small portion of the workforce on city-funded construction projects. This year, people of color made up 25 percent and women represented 6 percent of the workforce on city-funded projects, said Nancy Locke, director of city purchasing and contracting services for the city of Seattle.

The Seattle City Council is exploring how to change that. The nine-member council will vote in September on a resolution directing city staff to research and propose a program that would hire more people from disadvantaged communities for construction work.

The city council’s Economic Resiliency Committee discussed the resolution Aug. 7.

The resolution stems from a request by Got Green, a South Seattle environmental and social justice nonprofit, and the Targeted Local Hire Coalition. The groups want the city’s construction contractors to hire a percentage of the workforce from poor communities, perhaps using the median income of a ZIP code or census tract as a guide.

Other cities require that up to 50 percent of the jobs on city construction projects go to people from those disadvantaged communities.

In Seattle, the Women and Minority-owned Business Enterprise program requires the city to contract out a percentage of work to businesses owned by women and people of color. It encourages the city to hire on-the-ground workers from disadvantaged communities, but does not require it.

It hasn’t helped, Locke told the Economic Resiliency Committee Aug. 7.

It’s difficult to legislate diversity in Washington state because voters passed an anti-affirmative action initiative in 1998 that prohibits state and local governments from hiring based on race or gender. Seattle is required to accept the lowest bid on a project and cannot select the contractor with the most diverse workforce.

Labor unions would support a targeted local hire program, said Jermaine Smiley of Laborers Local 242. Construction workers have a history, he said, of hiring from disadvantaged communities.

“Our union 100 years ago was started on the workers nobody wanted: African Americans, Irish workers,” Smiley said.

View the original article at http://realchangenews.org.

Repost: Women empowerment imbizo

The provincial human settlements department is set to hold a summit in Rustenburg on Friday 
to identify emerging women contractors in the province. Picture: Ishaan Haffajee

By Elfas Torerai

The provincial human settlements department is set to hold a summit in Rustenburg on Friday to identify emerging women contractors in the province.

The one- day summit is, among other things, intended to promote access to economic opportunities for women in construction.

Human settlements spokesperson Ben Bole said synergies would be created between the department and contractors to improved relations between contractors and the department. About 500 delegates are expected to attend.

“MEC Nono Maloyi is expected to address the delegates. In his address Maloyi said he would give a detailed outline on how the department had progressed in policies that are geared towards empowering women,” Bole said.

He said construction agencies that had been working with the department would provide relevant information to new entrants to construction.

“Young unemployed women will be part of the summit and will be empowered through the presentations that will be made by the human settlements agencies. This will give them a chance to join the construction sector,” he said.

The summit takes place at the Rustenburg Civic Centre, and starts at 8 in the morning.

View the original article at The New Age Online.