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Local union halls aim high to recruit and retain more women
By KERRY L. SMITH

   Although the Southern Illinois Carpenters' Training Center continues to recruit women into the construction trades, labor leaders say the ultimate success in putting these individuals into construction jobs rests on the shoulders of those who are willing to hire them and give them a chance.

   Gary Eversmann, apprenticeship coordinator, has been a carpenter since 1969 and heads operations at the Belleville-based school, operated under the Carpenters' District Council of Greater Saint Louis and Vicinity. The school, which opened in 1986, currently has 500 apprentices. The curriculum spans four years or eight terms.

   Eversmann says the Carpenters are employing every means they can to recruit tradesfolk, particularly women. Despite this solid effort, however, it's a tough road. Perceptions of hirers can be hard to change, he says.

   "Our ongoing problem is that because we're the least-restrictive of the trades, the employer - the general contractor, the sub, the drywall company or the flooring company - is the one who ultimately makes the decision to hire the apprentices and journeymen. We remain dedicated to enthusiastically recruiting as many high-caliber individuals - women included - as we can, but we're not the ones who do the hiring," said Eversmann.

   Marvin Sanders, business representative and organizer for the Carpenters' District Council of Greater Saint Louis and Vicinity, says the problem of hirers' perception often comes into play when the women apprentices request a letter of intent from a union contractor - the requirement to enter a Carpenters' apprenticeship program.

   "A lot of times, women just aren't looked upon as being capable of doing the work," he said. "Many times, they become discouraged and don't return to apply to our school. As a union, we have no control over that because the contractors have the right to decide who is best to do the work. But in many cases, a woman may be stronger and/or more capable to perform the job than some men. There are women out there who can do this work; they just have to know going in, what the specific physical requirements will be."

   Concrete form building - handling heavy steel or steel/plywood panels all day long, the average of which weighs 96 pounds a piece - is an example of a tough construction job, day in and day out.

   Sanders tells of a success story the Carpenters' Belleville training program experienced. A woman apprentice completed the curriculum, became a journeyman and followed her passion for building homes.

   "But it was difficult for her to keep working in the residential sector," he said. "Consequently, she left that sector but continues to work union. One of our employment counselors just kept talking to different contractors, begging them to give her a chance. There is always somebody who's gonna get it done and not fall into the crevices. We've had some women who have gone through the program and ended up starting their own (construction) business," Sanders added.

   Understandably from the union contractor's perspective, it's all about production - particularly in a tight labor market, according to the Carpenters' Council.

   "Hanging those heavy sheets of drywall all day long causes the contractor to make a hiring decision based on how much production he is going to get out of an individual. Even when we're talking about a man, one who is short typically won't be as productive in this specific job," Sanders said.

   Although the work is physically demanding, there is a lot of new technology and advanced tools that take strain off the human body, he said, which leads to opportunities for women that may not have existed before.

   One example of an advance is the wall jack. Now regularly used in residential construction work, the jack allows workers to build walls on the floor and then lift them up, reducing back strain that used to be common in homebuilding.

   Of the 500 apprentices in the eight-term program at this time, approximately five are women.

   The shortage of women apprentices entering training in Southwestern Illinois, coupled with the fact that Southwestern Illinois is in the midst of a residential building boom never seen here before - makes recruiting, training, hiring and retaining workers a heightened priority for the region.

   Sanders says the construction industry overall is seeing an increase in women laborers, particularly with respect to highway work; he is also noting an increase in women operating engineers such as those who operate highway road construction equipment.

   The council's entire territory includes 33 counties across Southern Illinois and 44 in Eastern Missouri. Its total membership exceeds 22,000.

   "Right now, in terms of how many women are active in our (Carpenters' District Council), we only have about 4 percent women," Sanders said. "By law, we cannot target our recruiting to any particular population. We've got to conduct general recruitment."

   Nationally, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, during year 2004 only one-tenth of one percent of the total U.S. workforce of carpenters were women. Women working as construction laborers nationally last year totaled a mere .26 percent.

   Eversmann says the Carpenters' District Council is seeing an increasing number of single parents - women in particular - applying to apprenticeship programs.

   But the fact that the construction industry doesn't generally promise a 12-month working year is another factor that makes it an uphill climb to retain workers, women included, according to Sanders.

   "What we do is subject to weather, and it's directly impacted by the economy more than other sectors," he said. "A lot of times the women who join our council are single parents and it's really important to have a paycheck every week. It is probably related to the economy as a whole, and the fact that there is an increasing number of single parents entering the workforce. The construction industry is quite forgiving when people jump into another industry in order to use their skills year-round. The only thing we would not like to see is if one of our people left to do the same type of (construction) work for a non-union general contractor."