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Group Aims for More Women in Construction June 25, 2003 Although workers in construction make more money than those in traditional female occupations, women still hold less than 3 percent of jobs in the trades. But a burgeoning new organization representing women in the unionized construction industry is aiming to change that.
Tradeswoman Now and Tomorrow, a national coalition of tradeswomens organizations and advocates, concluded its second annual conference hosted by the IBEW at the International Office in Washington, D.C. earlier this month. The goals of the conference were threefold: to recruit more women, to retain those already working in the industry and develop more women in the trades as leaders. Estimates that the construction industry will require more than 200,000 new workers each year for the next five years have prompted efforts to attract more women into traditionally male-dominated fields. In terms of pay, the advantages for women are obvious: trades pay from $10 to $15 an hour to start while traditional "womens occupations" rate half as much. Childcare and clerical workers and nursing assistants earn in the $7 hourly range. The difference could likely be one between a living wage and a good career versus membership in the growing class called the "working poor." In a Capitol Hill meeting with TNT participants, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-New York) brought that point home. "There are too many people who have to work two jobs to make ends meet," said IBEW member Marta Schultz, a member of Local 595, Dublin, California, paraphrasing Sen. Clintons message. "If you are working, shouldnt you be able to support yourselves and your family?" Conference participants also benefit from interaction with other women construction workersa rare opportunity on many job sites, IBEW Construction Department International Representative Carolyn Williams said. "Ive attended a lot of conferences where Im the only woman," she said. "I think theres a different energy when tradeswomen get together. Theres a lot of networking and camaraderie but a lot of work gets done too." But the 60 women attendees came armed with a legislative agenda, too. Their priorities included pushing for funding for students in nontraditional employment and the inclusion of provisions in legislation to provide technical assistance grants for the Women in Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Occupations Act. They also found time for an impromptu musical performance led by Schultz, the guitar-strumming playwright who has been integrating the experience of the tradeswomen she knows into a musical comedy variety show for the last couple years. "Its a way to communicate our experience and to make people smile," she said. "Its good to laugh about your troubles and to celebrate our victories." One of the skits was a turn-the-tables-style parody of a construction site dominated by women, who have trouble dealing with the prospect of a new handa man. "You mean its a guy!" one woman crew member exclaims. "I worked with one of them once. Thought he knew everything and I had to do all the work," lamented another. Schultz, who has been on the job for 15 years, admits that a construction site is not always a friendly place for women, or men. Thats why conferences like TNT are so important, she said. "Its amazing the way that these women work with each other," Schultz said. "They are concerned and dedicated and focused on the issues. Its really amazing to be in their company."
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