The “Build A Life That Works” recruitment initiative, launched in November 2017 by the Northeast Center for Tradeswomen Equity (NCTE) and the Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC), is an award-winning campaign designed to inspire women to pursue a career in the union building trades as a viable path to equal pay for equal work, excellent benefits, and a better future. This first-of-its-kind, statewide effort aims to increase the number of women in the building trades to 20% by 2020. It is an aggressive goal, but certainly one worth the effort and work.

The campaign increases program awareness and promotes its message through a variety of advertising, marketing, grassroots events and digital strategies.  As part of that sustained outreach effort, the NCTE hosts Tradeswoman Tuesday, a monthly recruiting event designed to educate women about the benefits of pursuing a career with the union building trades. This forum, conveniently offered at locations in Eastern and Western Massachusetts, provides an opportunity for interested applicants to meet with other women who are currently working in various construction trades. Tradeswomen share their stories about their pursuit for a career in construction and offer helpful tips and information to those seeking to follow a similar path.

Recently the MGC had the opportunity to attend Tradeswoman Tuesday events held in Boston and Springfield.  The experience was so inspiring that Commissioner Bruce Stebbins and Director Jill Griffin would like to take this opportunity to share their reflections on these impactful events.

From Jill Griffin, Director of Workforce, Supplier and Diversity Development:

I dropped by the Boston Tradeswomen’s Tuesday event on the evening of July 3^rd, anticipating a small turnout due to the holiday weekend. This was certainly not the case; In Boston’s Roxbury neighborhood 20 interested females packed the meeting room to get information about construction careers. They were able to hear from a panel of experienced local tradeswomen including union carpenters Vianet Montano and Joan Bennett, and union painter Alex Colonna. . The meeting was also attended by Deb Avery, Senior Project Manager from Suffolk Construction. The tradeswomen were honest about the benefits of working in the construction trades and the challenges.

NCTE pipeline coordinator Kate Harrison followed the panel with a PowerPoint presentation filled with information about the basic requirements needed to apply, such as GED/HS Diploma, driver’s license, being physically fit and drug free as well as information about the benefits of a career in the building trades.  The question and answer period was lively, with interested females taking advantage of the knowledge, experience and honesty of the current tradeswomen. The Building Pathways – Building Trades Pre-Apprenticeship Program was highlighted for those who weren’t sure what trade they were interested in. Mary Vogel, director of the program, fielded questions from the group.

At the August 7 Tradeswomen Tuesday information session, 13 experienced tradeswomen shared their knowledge with approximately 30 prospective female candidates. Recruitment staff from Encore Boston Harbor also joined the meeting to share information about upcoming job opportunities on the property in the areas of facilities and maintenance.

From Bruce Stebbins, Commissioner

In Springfield, almost a dozen women filled the conference room at the Scibelli Enterprise Center to hear from two union members about their experience working in the building trades.  For almost an hour, a presentation on how to join the trades was intermingled with comments from Tia Lafromboise (Laborer) and Ana Cardona (Carpenter)  Throughout the presentation, you could hear the encouragement and sincere interest from the potential job candidates.  As one of the candidate’s daughter began to “circulate” around the room, the other women smiled, said hello and gently coaxed her back to her mom’s side.  Clearly the sense of teamwork was emanating from this group of women each looking to learn about this new career opportunity.

The presentation walked through every facet of the job from getting started to handling challenges on the job site.  As the presentation wrapped up, guests enjoyed pizza and conversation and others signed on to the pipeline navigator.  I took the opportunity to approach Tia and ask her about her experience and tenure as a laborer.  My final question was simple – “Why did you decide to do this?”  Without missing a beat Tia pointed to her daughter Bella and said “Her.”

The Tradeswomen Tuesdays program and the “Build A Life That Works” campaign is being supported by our unions, our Massachusetts gaming licensees, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, the Northeast Center for Tradeswomen Equity, Massachusetts Convention Center Authority, Massachusetts Department of Transportation, the City of Boston and City of Everett.  We continue to outreach to new potential partners and invite those – who believe in this goal as much as we do – to join us.

For more information about the campaign, visit BuildALifeMA.org.