Trading jobs

Courtesy of my darling brother at BCIT, a news release about a conference being held this weekend at SFU about women in the trades.

Although I'm a lazy slob who wouldn't touch physical labour with a ten-foot poleaxe (gonngggg), I think there is a glaring need for something to be done about the dearth of female tradespeople. I personally don't know a single woman working as a mechanic, electrician, bricklayer, or the like. I hear endless laments about how "kids these days" are all going to university and foresaking skilled labour, and how industries from forestry to plumbing are suffering when the old guys retire and nobody moves in to fill their spots. This is happening to an even greater extent in the trades than other fields. So isn't it kind of a no-brainer that industry look to a previously untapped labour source?

Although women have been gaining ground in the "professions," it is still very much the case that girls who don't follow highschool with post-secondary education will end up in the service industry, custodial jobs, or even child-rearing, rather than taking more remunerative work in the trades. In 2002, only 2% of registered apprentices in the top 15 trades were women. By 2004, women accounted for just 7% of employees in transportation, trades, and construction work. (See this StatsCan report from 2005.)

So, why are so few women choosing this type of work? The selection of workshops at the SFU conference offers some explanation. Fully half off them focus on either recognizing sexist mistreatment, avoiding sexist mistreatment, talking back to sexist mistreaters, or filing complaints of sexual harassment. Presumably this is still a major issue and a barrier to women entering the skilled trades. Now, I don't think the solution lies in educating tradeswomen about systemic discrimination. They're not the ones causing problems. But that's a long post for another day.

An article on www.apprenticetrades.ca cites the lack of female role models and "examples of ordinary women who have built a successful career working in a trade" as another reason that girls don't gravitate towards these jobs.

Finally, many women, and men too, also tend to think that female workers aren't strong enough for physical labour. In many instances, however, this is unwarranted discrimination. Take for example the 1999 Supreme Court of Canada case, British Columbia (Public Service Employee Relations Commission) v. BCGSEU, in which the complainant, a female firefighter working without trouble for three years, had been fired for failing to meet new physical standards put in place. Unanimously, the Court held that, excepting "undue hardship" to an employer, industry standards must accommodate differing abilities and must only be imposed in good faith and where necessary and logical. Where an imposed standard is not a "bona fide occupational requirement," it will not be a justifiable form of discrimination.

A recent Conservative press release ( "Women in Trades Get Another Boost From Canada's New Government") indicates that Harper may be doing something right for a change. Let's hope it sticks.