Pioneers talk about trades

An oral history project — New York’s Women Construction Workers: In Their Own Words — attempts to capture the experiences of women coming into the construction trades in the late ’70s, who struggled to find places for themselves in their jobs and unions. The following are memoirs by workers about their experiences in the labor movement:

Ann Jochems, still the only female carpenter working for the New York City Board of Education: “My decision to become a carpenter evolved out of the overall vision of wanting to change the world. The traditional men’s jobs paid more and I ended up doing building repairs, then getting more skills, wanting to be self-sufficient. ... Then the political nature of the pure union movement appealed to me.”

Janine Blackwelder, Ironworkers Local 580: “I was the first woman iron worker, at least in this half century. ... I had this romanticized view of the working class, the noble proletariat, which I kind of think is a crock now. ... I didn’t think it was enough that women were breaking ground running an advertising agency or becoming an attorney or an executive for some corporation. I felt things weren’t going to change in this country until blue-collar women had the same opportunities as men. And the only way you do that is by going after the same job.”

Barbara Trees, Carpenters Local 157: “... I was perceived, as I think all the women were, as being a lesbian. They just thought this was the funniest thing in the world, and they’d try to do all sorts of things to humiliate you.”

Elaine Ward entered the Plumbers Apprenticeship Program run by Local 2: “I think there were three women that were taken into the apprenticeship program when I got my application in 1985. On March 1, 1990, I was the only female graduating. I went from $11.80 to $26.81 an hour. ... I really thought I had it made. But my perception is that hostility increased. ... The intimidation was an attempt to really test my ability to persevere.”

Marty Pottenger, carpenter and teacher, describes teaching women coming into the trades about labor history: “I teach them shop, and tools and safety and blueprint reading, and we actually get to build survival skills to survive on the job and make our lives go the way we want. ... I tell them they have to want more than the money. The money probably won’t get them through the hard times. A sense of humor and a sense of the big picture is what gets you through.”

— Jane Latour

(Jane Latour is director of the Women’s Project, Association for Union Democracy, and is managing editor of the New York Hard Hat News.)