Sisters in the Brotherhood
Carpenter Lisa Lujano works on the rebuilding of the Racine “L” station October 9, 2024, in Chicago. As of 2023, only 3.1 percent of US carpenters were women, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
The number of women working in the skilled trades has doubled over the past decade, but they’re still a slim minority on the jobsite. In 2023, only 3.1% of carpenters were women. In the same year, women made up 2.9% of electricians and 2.2% of plumbers.
But the women who work in the construction industry are building their own social infrastructure to help their sisters succeed. At Chicago Women in Trades, women learn the craft, lift weights together at night and connect each other to career opportunities. In Vermont, the Trailblazers program offers free apprenticeship training for women.
Read the full story here, written by Harry Bruinius for The Christian Science Monitor.
Sarah McHugh, left, removes a tube that was blowing cellulose insulation into a wall on October 19, 2024, in Rutland, Vermont, as part of a free pre-apprenticeship training program for women. McHugh first enrolled in the course because “college wasn’t for me,” she said. She’s now interested in pursuing a career in heat pump installation.
Arlena C. Hampton, a union pipe fitter with Local Union 597, poses at the Chicago Women in Trades workshops October 10, 2024, in Chicago. Hampton is an alumna of Chicago Women in Trades’ Technical Opportunities Program pre-apprenticeship training program, which she attended in 2009.
Shaden Sanchez, an ironworker in the Local 63, works on metal framing of what will become a new “L” station on Chicago’s blue line, October 9, 2024, in Chicago, Illinois.
Arlena C. Hampton, a union pipe fitter with Local Union 597, welds at the Chicago Women in Trades workshops October 10, 2024, in Chicago.
Executive Director Jayne Vellinga poses for a portrait at the Chicago Women in Trades workshops October 10, 2024, in Chicago.
Danitra Williams leads women in the Technical Opportunities Program (TOP) in weight lifting at the Chicago Women in Trades workshops October 10, 2024, in Chicago. TOP Is a free 12-week pre-apprenticeship training program that prepares women to compete for jobs in a range of male-dominated skilled trades.
Carpenter Lisa Lujano on her jobsite October 9, 2024, in Chicago.