Demand for skilled trades workers is on the upswing.
Trades people are retiring in record numbers with the exit of the baby boom generation, leaving lots of vacancies. On top of retirements, the 2021 Infrastructure law is expected to create more jobs in the construction sector for years to come.
There's a huge untapped resource to fill this need — women.
Nationally, women make up just 4.3% of workers in the trades. The Illinois Department of Labor reports the 5% share of women in the construction trades in this state hasn’t budged in two decades. Some unions like the Ironworkers have just 1.2% women in the workforce. Historically, it hasn't been easy for women to enter the trades.
Jennifer Frank is a member of Insulators Local 17. Frank had worked third shift at a casino, and for years at other jobs she didn't much care for. She turned to the trades for something that would offer security.
"I called my dad up. I was like, 'Dad I need a job.' He told me no. I'm like no Dad I really need a job. He hung up on me. So, I called his mother, my grandmother and she called him up. He's like, alright kiddo here's what we're going to do. I'm going to give you two weeks. If you like it, it's a career, not just a job. If you don't like it, we'll never speak of it again," said Frank.
Now, 17-years vested with the Heat and Frost Insulators Union, Frank said she has a very proud father.
Carpenters’ union fourth year-apprentice Cindy Brooks was a single parent working a lot of jobs in the East Peoria area. Her dad needed help in his business, but when she suggested he hire her, he said no, it wouldn't look right.
"And I cornered him at the bowling alley with all of his buddies which was great because they all told him, why not? They told him there's this person...and daughter, there's that person and daughter," said Brooks.
So, the culture is shifting. Unions are more open to enrolling women as apprentices, so they don't have to trap their dads in front of friends or play the grandmother card to get in.
Frank teaches apprentices now. When she started 17 years ago, a woman came through the training program once every few years. Now, there is at least one in every class she said. Studies show women do better in apprentice programs when there are all-women cohorts.
Those interviewed for this story expressed doubt there is currently enough interest to support that in Central Illinois. Brooks said she makes a point of introducing herself to other apprentices to make sure they know they are not alone and to enlarge the sisterhood that lives inside the brotherhood of union members.
Gender norms still exist, said Stevie Anthony, a member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers 197 in Bloomington.
"As girls go through high school, and they're given career opportunities, I don't feel like this is put in front of them. I feel that a lot of times they are pushed more towards education and health care and different things that are considered more domestic jobs," said Anthony.
So, it’s often up to women to recruit. Frank said that means countering stereotypes.
"A lot of times, there is this misconception that you have to be this strong and brute-style person. I personally am not that type. A lot of these trade only have a 50-pound weight restriction," she said.
She tells women to work smarter not harder. Even without upper arm strength, she figures out a way to get things from point A to point B.
Brooks said the idea of using power tools can put off some women. If they have never used them before, they may fear they will fail. The carpenters offer training center tours to show women how they learn about the tools of the trade.
“To let them know we’re not just going to put you out in the field on your own with no experience,” said Brooks.
Women trades union members said improved workplace safety standards mean you are less likely to be put in a position to get hurt. And if you are pregnant, there are options to handle weight limits. Painters Union Local 90 Treasurer Hannah Hill said other workers stepped up and helped when she was pregnant, and doctors set her lifting limit to 20 pounds. Female union members said contractors have gotten better about making accommodations, too, and try to set people up for success — not failure.
Though women are becoming more accepted, there are still instances of toxic sexism.
"Oh yeah!" laughed the women interviewed for this story with an ironic side eye.
Brooks had a guy tell her he didn't like working with women. He'd worked with a woman...this one time... and she stood there and did nothing, he told her. That guy didn't give Brooks much to do. And then he was conservative about measuring wood, so she had to re-cut, multiple times.
"I finally got fed up with it and I shorted him a quarter of an inch. And the boards started fitting. He didn't say anything, but I watched him from the corner of my eye as I walked away. He took out his tape measure and he measured that board, so he knew I shorted him, but he never said another negative word to me," said Brooks.
After that, Brooks said he started showing her things and teaching her. Things got better with the guy.
"Later, there were other women on this job that had come while I was away and first thing, he said to me is, 'You know, I let them do more than I ever let you do in the beginning. And he said that's because of you," said Brooks.
Women union members said younger men are more supportive than the old farts. Painters Union Local 90 Treasurer Hannah Hill recalled when she was 20 years old and new on a job site. Painters wear white. She had on white pants and a white T-shirt. She had to walk through a torrential downpour to get to work. No one said a word, except to offer her a thicker shirt to wear.
"Nobody made a big deal about it and that felt like a big step for me, to know that I wasn't just going to walk head on into sexual harassment," said Hill.
Things have changed enough that these women union members said they don't think there will have to be a #MeToo moment in the trades because unions bring people together. Though male trades workers are changing their cultural norms, there remain logistical barriers to growing the female trades workforce.
Electrician Stevie Anthony said chief among them is childcare and early start times at worksites.
"Sometimes you have to get there by 5:30 in the morning to start at 6 a.m. No. No childcare is open at 5:30 in the morning. Who's going to do that?" said Anthony.
If women get to work later than others because of the kids, Anthony said they often don't get the most meaningful jobs, tasks that give them valuable experience. Without that experience, women can be the first ones laid off. At the other end of the day, childcare constraints mean women often can't take overtime offers so they can get a reputation for being unreliable. And if you have to drop a kid at a family member's house early and pick them up late, it’s not great.
"What's that doing for her? If she's the future, then that's not looking very bright. That's looking tired," said Anthony.
These issues are beginning to be addressed, Anthony said, particularly for apprentices who have evening training classes after a day at work. The IBEW Union Hall in Bloomington is working to set up a childcare program on school nights.
Painters Union Local 90 Treasurer Hannah Hill said a better gender balance in the trades helps society and women overall — and the trailblazers matter.
"The more representation we have, the bigger difference we can make in terms of the things that are maybe gender specific, maternity policies and childcare policies. The first step is seeing that we need that inclusion," said Hill, who is the first woman in the painters’ union district council to use the union's new maternity leave policy.
Elsewhere, there's a lot of experimentation.
Several unions are rolling out pilot programs. Some have vouchers for daycare costs. Some are opening daycare facilities to facilitate large projects. Union leaders acknowledged no two families are the same and it's hard to design support for everyone. They said a lot has happened to make the trades more hospitable for women workers, but more needs to happen in the business sector and in statehouses to make job hours dependable and humane for everyone.