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OPINION Women making headway in labour force
Erin McCarty, News Editor
Over the last two summers, I’ve worked as a construction labourer, packer operator, grades person and flag person for a small excavation company in Edmonton. The company had a handful of women doing various jobs. At many of the smaller sites, I was the only female.
For the record, I am an un-skilled tradesperson. But the number of women in skilled trades has grown substantially in recent years. A 2007 Statistics Canada report found women are gaining ground in apprenticeship training. They account for almost one out of every 10 people who registered for training in 2005.
The report also found between 1992 and 2005, women registering for apprenticeship training more than tripled, from 8,225 to 28,755.
I’ve seen women filling all sorts of positions: carpenters, electricians, equipment operators, drywallers. You name it, and I’ve seen women do it.
People’s reactions – especially those coming from men I work with – to what I’ve chosen for summer work are interesting.
I won’t paint all trades or work environments with the same brush. But in my construction experience, I encountered two different attitudes from men while onsite.
There were men who acted as though I was incapable of doing anything but standing around and looking pretty.
If I picked up a shovel, they were completely astounded. Or they were baffled as to why I would have chosen the job at all.
Some of those men didn’t ask me to do anything.
Instead, they’d leer, and they’d treat me as though I was there to keep “morale” up but nothing more.
The second attitude was respectful. I was given tasks that met my abilities, and there was no question of my competence unless I proved myself unfit to complete a task. Many of the men at my company fell into this category.
Thanks in part to the Canadian Labour Code established in the early 1980s, respect for women in trades has steadily increased over the last 20 to 30 years.
Most companies, including PCL, have zero tolerance policies surrounding any sort of harassment or discrimination.
As women, we’re constantly breaking new boundaries into non-traditional jobs. We’re vibrant, strong and capable. I always enjoyed playing with LEGO more than with Barbies anyhow.