When Carmen de Goey tried applying to train as an electrician at a trade school 30 years ago, the instructor told her not to bother.
She was reminded, first, that she was a woman, then that she wouldn’t do well in the course and certainly wouldn’t be able to “handle the men in the field.”
But de Goey, in her early 20s, never flinched. She enrolled anyway as the only woman.
De Goey went on to become a Red Seal construction electrician, wiring concrete high-rise buildings, schools and hospitals, as well as doing installation, maintenance and testing of electrical equipment.
But she didn’t stop there. De Goey joined the electrical trades faculty at Camosun College in 2008 and after teaching in the apprenticeship program for eight years, she became chair of the electrical trades department at Camosun.
Now she gets to welcome women into the trades, and act as a mentor. De Goey and pipes trades instructor Andrea Durdle say having females in those positions has an impact in the classroom.
“I think it makes [female] students see their potential, and having a woman in a leading role can make it seem more normal,” de Goey said.
“Times have changed for women. There are more of them, when compared to when I was at school and in the field. The shift is happening and it’s fantastic.”
De Goey said at any given time, there are between one and four women in trades classes of 16.
More women than ever before are earning a living in the trades. According to a survey by Build Force Canada, 4.5% of construction trade workers in British Columbia are women, and industry has hired 60% more women between 2022 and 2023 than in previous years.
Durdle and de Goey, however, say women still face challenges on worksites, usually in the form of unwanted comments about their gender, but also doubts on their abilities, isolation on the job and personal protective gear that isn’t designed for women.
“Some are worse than others,” said Durdle. “They don’t look at your ability, only your gender.”
She said some women quit, and she has heard of others being fired if they get pregnant.
De Goey said toxic work sites can depend on the area women are working.
“It can be quite horrendous in smaller, more isolated communities,” she said. “But in larger centres, like Victoria, it isn’t as common.”
A lot of the sexual harassment can be subtle but equally stinging, said Durdle.
On the eve of Labour Day, the Times Colonist is featuring an excerpt from Hilary Peach’s book, Thick Skin, Field Notes From a Sister in the Brotherhood.
The Gabriola Island writer and poet spent more than two decades in the boilermakers union as a transient welder, working in places such as the Victoria Drydock and Harmac Mill in Nanaimo, the oilsands of Alberta and the eastern seaboard in the U.S.
It’s an eye-opener for anyone who wants to enter the trades or just wants a unique perspective — “the good, the bad, the ugly, and always, the fascinating,” said Kate Braid, fellow writer and journeywoman who wrote the forward.
Peach masterfully chronicles her time as a welder in confined spaces the public never gets to see. She met good, talented people, and others.
She described a situation, during a job at a chemical plant in Vancouver with a small crew, in a small trailer while on a break.
“I was still very new to the trade, and didn’t know anyone there. My strategy was to keep my head down and fly under the radar. I’d brought a book to read at the breaks, Life of Pi, which had just come out.
“When I got there a middle-aged guy with greasy hair and restless eyes was pacing the room. He was solid, with big arms and gnarled hands. He talked fast and loudly, telling stories in which he was always the hero, interrupting himself with a laugh that was half bark and half bray. When the coffee cauldron gurgled to a finish he poured a paper cup of coffee and sat down across from me.
“So, he said. Are you married?
“Oh, here we go, another guy said.
“I just asked if she was married. So are you? Are you married? I didn’t answer. So what, you’re not talking to me? You’re not going to answer? I don’t see a ring. He studied me. You don’t look like the married type.
“The other guy reached across the table and we shook hands.
“He said I’m the shop steward. It’s nice to meet you. If you have any issues, you come and talk to me okay?
“If have any issues? I asked, raising my eyebrows. He rolled his eyes.”
In Thick Skin’s epilogue, Peach said: “If I could change one thing in construction culture that would be … the introduction of a little more tenderness.”
Durdle said as more women enter the trades, colleges, unions and construction associations are providing supports to protect female workers and just let them do their jobs.
The Canadian Construction Association, along with its Island affiliate, has a program developed with WomenACT and the Society for Canadian Women in Science and Technology for its members to take a training series to prevent and respond to gender-based and sexual harassment in the workplace. Its goal is to provide “inclusive and respectful” workplaces and to attract and retain women in industry.
A recent report by the Independent Contractors and Businesses Association said about a third of construction companies on Vancouver Island expect to be busier this year, but 77% are still looking for workers.
The Worklink Employment Society said post-secondary institutions are playing a key role in encouraging female trades.
Camosun provides a Women in Trades exploration program with work experience opportunities.
De Goey said the program creates a safe space for women and members of gender equity groups to learn about opportunities in the trades.
The Gwyn Morgan and Patricia Trottier Foundation has also donated $2.285 million since 2017 to create the Empowering Women in the Trades program. The money defrays additional financial barriers facing women in the trades and assists with areas such as transportation, child care, living expenses, and the cost of protection equipment and tools. The goal is to allow more women to complete their Red Seal certification.
The program offers one-on-one support, networking and mentoring opportunities, as well as employment support. The program is unique to Camosun.
Durdle noted that the B.C. Centre for Women in the Trades is launching Stand Up for Safe Workplaces, a new program aimed at improving workplace culture and safety training. Developed with the B.C. Federation of Labour, it is designed to help the trades understand diversity, equity and inclusion, including psychological injury prevention.
The province is providing $2.8 million to fund the program.
“Our goal is to empower workers across B.C., change the culture of their construction workplaces, and make them more psychologically safe,” said B.C. Centre for Women in Trades executive director Karen Dearlove. “Safer worksites will mean that workers from equity-priority groups — including Indigenous people, people of colour, people with disabilities, 2SLGBTIAQ+ people, newcomers and women — can meaningfully exercise their rights and pursue careers in the trades.”
Durdle urges companies to mentor female employees and to stand up for them if harassment is reported or seen.
She said women in trades are “just like everyone else.
“They want to work hard, make a good living wage,” Durdle said.
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