Legal Momentum Applauds the Commission on Construction Opportunity's Plan to Make the Construction Industry Women Friendly and Women Safe

October 5, 2005 -

 

Legal Momentum is pleased to have been part of the Mayor's Commission on Construction Opportunity. The Commission's plans include important strategies to provide women opportunity in the construction industry. We plan to work closely with the Commission to assure implementation of this action plan and further steps to bring women into the trades. The skilled trades offer women opportunities that are unrivalled for jobs that do not require a college education. The median hourly salary for child care workers is just under $8 an hour. Careers in the trades offer wages of $20 to $30 per hour, on-the-job training, pensions, and health care benefits through union membership.

The aspects of the Commission plan we are particularly heartened by include

  • 10% of every apprentice class will be women: While some area locals are already at this level or above and we expect their leadership to continue, many others will now join their forward progress and add women to their ranks. We look forward to helping unions address any recruitment, training and retention needs they may find that implementation may require.
  • City Magnet sites with a 15% goal for women:
    Around the country, construction sites have found that when they set high rates for women's participation, they consistently have more women working than the reported number for that area. This finding exemplifies what advocates for women in the trades have long expressed: 1) that the current available pool of women is underemployed and 2) if demand is increased, the supply will increase.
  • Instituting legal provisions to deter a hostile workplace environment: Legal Momentum's research shows that equal opportunity on construction sites begins when builders publicize the importance of their plans for hiring and retaining women and minorities from the very first bid packages €“ and back them up with contract clauses that bind both the general contractor and all subcontractors. Adding legal provisions that will establish zero tolerance for obscene material, establish the need for clean single-sex restrooms and changing facilities and include anti discrimination and harassment policies and training will go a long way towards ensuring that women do not leave the construction industry almost as fast as they enter it.
  • Strengthening EO 50: The Commission plans to strengthen Executive Order 50 and institute more active monitoring of all projects over $10 Million. The strengthening and monitoring will ensure that more than lip service will be paid to the hiring, retention and promotion of women on city constructions sites.
  • Data Collection: Collecting information on the entrance and retention rate of all new apprentices will help the Commission members develop action plans to support the recruitment and training of women and minorities. EO 50 data collection will help track the work rates of journey level tradeswomen and improve their hiring and retention as well.

Today, the Armed Forces, the Police Force and the United States Senate have all broken the 10% barrier towards a critical mass of women in their ranks. However, only 3.1% of all construction workers nationally are women, and in New York City the number is even lower. Of the approximately 4,000 tradeswomen in New York City, many report chronic underemployment.

Women Rebuild New York, A Program of Legal Momentum
Legal Momentum advances the rights of women and girls by using the power of the law and creating innovative public policy. Our work focuses on three broad initiatives: economic justice, freedom from gender-based violence and equality under the law. We integrate diverse perspectives in our work and have a long history of working with employers and others to achieve sound policies associated with women's employment. "Women Rebuild New York" is a broad-ranging effort to make the rebuilding of Lower Manhattan and the projected New York City construction boom, models of equal opportunity for women in the skilled construction trades.

CONTACT:
Françoise Jacobsohn
Women Rebuild New York
(212) 413-7530