In Canada, women represent only four per cent of the construction trade workforce and the Journeyman initiative hopes to substantially increase that number by debunking myths and stereotypes about women in the trades.
Among Journeyman’s goals, female representatives of the 14 Canada’s Building Trades Unions (CBTU) affiliated trade unions will promote the skilled trades through school presentations.
“It’s very important for me to talk to the students about all the benefits of being in union skilled trades. Early retirement, great pension, excellent benefits, earn while you learn, no big college and university loan debts,” said Journeyman founder Jamie McMillan, a journeyman with Ironworkers Local 736.
“I love to tell them how they can buy their first sports car, house, and be hosting backyard barbecues while their friends in school are driving old cars and eating kraft dinner in school — they laugh.”
She said it is also important to educate parents about the trades as they often do not see them as good careers, especially for young girls.
After receiving no information about the trades in high school and pursuing other less fulfilling careers, McMillan found the construction trades in her late twenties and founded Journeyman a few years ago as a way to help educate other women.
The CBTU recently announced its support for the initiative, adding more national representation to the program. They are currently working on having representatives from all the trades in each of the provinces.
The program will promote, support and mentor women employed or considering employment in the unionized skilled construction trades. In addition to going into schools, the representatives will attend networking functions, mentorship events, charity and media events, trade shows and career fairs.
Mechanical advantages and safety advancements have made the trades easier on everyone, not just women.
“The equipment we use now is ergonomically friendly. Through our unions the training and education we are taught to work as a team and promote safe work practices. We are made aware of our workplace rights and provided with all the proper personal protective equipment and knowledge to complete each job successfully and safely.”
McMillan chose the name Journeyman, with the female symbol in place of the o, because “journeyman is a status, not a gender…it’s a status that we should be very, very proud of. We’ve achieved that certificate and nobody can take that away — that’s ours,” she said.
In her in-school presentations, McMillan brings in her tools and clothes and gets the students to try them out.
“They take selfies and they have a lot of fun with it. The great thing is that a lot of them weren’t aware of the potential, so when you start talking the potential and the money, their eyes light up,” she said.
BuildForce Canada predicts the Canadian construction labour force needs to attract 132,000 workers, in addition to replacing the vacancies left by retirements, to meet demands from 2014 to 2023. Women can help fill that gap, it says.
Journeyman mentors both young women and men and highlight that women have been in the trades for years.
“Women built tanks, ships, houses, and kept factories and industry going while men were away at war or working away from home. It’s important to talk to young students about women in the trades and educate them that this isn’t something new, we’ve been in the trades all along. Not in large numbers but nonetheless we are very capable,” said McMillan.
“We offer a different prospective, fresh ideas, and a more diversity in the workplace. “Change is good in this evolving world.”
Learning a skilled trade is only a stepping stone to other opportunities. McMillan noted that careers that stem from the trades are so vast and can include project management, planning, safety, quality control, welding inspection, and engineering, to name a few.
“There are opportunities to work worldwide, travel, and move from job to job. It’s never boring, ever changing, and the satisfaction and accomplishment you experience once you’ve completed a project and you see the product of all your hard work is amazing,” she said.
“Being responsible for a structure you helped build that will stand for generations to come is an unbeatable feeling.”
Journeyman is a sponsor of the Skills Canada National Competition held in Toronto June 4-7. It will have a booth and representatives will be on the floor dressed in work gear.
For more information on Journeyman, visit www.journeymaninc.ca.
Follow Kelly Lapointe on Twitter @DCNKelly.
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