North American delegation of 50 tradeswomen aims to share best practice during two-week visit.
IOB vice president Sandi Rhys Jones is to welcome a delegation of 50 tradeswomen who work in site-based roles in construction in North America when they visit London next month.
The Tradeswomen Building Bridges delegation, which women from other countries in the world are also expected to join, will spend two weeks in the capital from 9-20 June, meeting workers, union leaders, policymakers and advocates.
Women make up about 10% of site-based workers in the construction sector in the US, a proportion higher than the roughly 1% of the site-based workforce who are female in the UK.
Nonetheless, women in the USA have encountered many of the same barriers that women in the UK face, and the delegation aims to share best practice to create a more diverse and inclusive global network.
Rhys Jones said: “When working on projects such as Building Work for Women, which provided the all-important site experience to help women move from training into work, I found that contractors quickly realised that tradeswomen were a positive addition to their business – and were keen to employ more.
“But the percentage of construction tradeswomen in the UK has remained stubbornly stuck at just 1%, so I am looking forward to CIOB welcoming the delegation in June and hearing how Tradeswomen Building Bridges have succeeded in getting to the heady heights of between 10% and 13%.”
“Contractors have realised that trades-women are a positive addition to their business.”
During the visit, the delegation aims to learn about London’s construction industry and build relationships for a two-way dialogue on improving the lives of women construction workers around the world.
The delegation is made up of electricians, plumbers, carpenters, machine operators and other workers. They will be hosted by the University of Westminster’s Centre for the Study of the Production of the Built Environment (PRoBE).
The 2022 delegation events will include: a best practice workshop, where case studies of successful strategies for increasing women in construction are discussed; a discussion with Women into Construction; and a series of site visits to sites like Thames Tideway, Crossrail and HS2.
Cassandra Klewicki, from the United Brotherhood of Carpenters New York, said: “I’m joining the delegation because the single most important thing for making me successful as a carpenter was building a network of tradeswomen. They guided me and listened to me. I’m looking forward to expanding my network and showing other women how to build theirs.”
