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Women in Construction Week 2022

 Women in Construction Week 2022 (WIC Week) returns to the Twin Cities from March 6-12. And it returns with some in person events after being a virtual-only event last year. “Depending on the venue some will require a mask, but at least it’s in person,” said Janelle Miller, WIC Week Chair who works for Peterson Companies.

 WIC Week highlights women as a visible component of the construction industry and raises awareness about the opportunities available for women who are construction workers. Though women represent an enormous potential workforce, they are a significant minority in the union building trades. Women make up about 11% of the construction industry’s workforce. The construction industry is brimming with opportunities for women with the right skills and capabilities. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the construction industry will grow six percent from 2020-30, adding about 400,000 new jobs.

 The week starts on Sunday, March 6, when participants will be able to get their virtual bingo card online. They can play bingo throughout the week for prizes to be awarded after the week is over. One in-person event designed to help women meet their unique apparel needs is Beyond the Pink which takes place on Tues., March 8, at the St. Paul Tool Library. Women will be treated to workwear product demos with the opportunity to swap gear as well. Workplace apparel manufacturers are making clothes designed to fit the female form better, says Miller. “I worked 12 years in the field as a Laborer. I know firsthand how we wear clothes is different from our male counterparts. These are things being addressed in our industry.”

 In total 12 events are scheduled this year. The 2022 WIC Week calendar of events is available here:  https://www.nawicmsp.org/wic-week

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Jenny Winklaar: Chasing the Notorious RBG

When it was announced the Trades Women Build Nations Conference was coming to the Twin Cities, Minneapolis Building Trades Director of Marketing & Public Relations Jenny Winklaaar suggested one speaker she thought they should get — the only octogenarian in the United States so renown she has her own hip-hop nickname, the Notorious RBG, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

After submitting a formal request through a national association of lawyers (which went nowhere), Winklaar did her own research and called the United States Supreme Court. She selected the “Clerk of Court” option from the menu. The phone was accidentally answered by someone trying to dial out who hadn’t listened for the dial tone first. Winklaar said, “Hello.” A voice on the other end answered her back: “Hello… Who is this?” Winklaar introduced herself and told The Voice on the other end of the phone she wondered how one could request a Supreme Court justice to speak at an event. “… What?!” The Voice replied.

Winklaar explained a women’s conference was coming to Minneapolis, Minnesota, and they’d like Justice Ginsburg to speak at the event. The Voice put her on hold, but returned two minutes later with another person conferenced into the call. That led to another round on hold with yet a third person joining the conference call who said, “I’d like you to say your name; I’d like you to spell your name, and I’d like to give me the address from which you’re calling.” About that time Winklaar wondered if the FBI wasn’t on their way to detain her.

Eventually she was put through to the assistant to Justice Ginsburg who listened to her request and invited her to submit it via a special email address. Within 48 hours after sending the email, she got a personal response from RBG. With the Supreme Court starting their session, she wrote, she wouldn’t be able to attend in person. In lieu of that, she offered to do a special video address for the opening of the conference.

Looking back, Winklaar thought the women at the event “were really encouraged that RBG took time out of her schedule to encourage them.”

Vicki O’Leary, Chairwoman of North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU) Tradeswomen’s Committee, was standing in the back of the room waiting to be introduced as the next speaker when Ginburg’s video played for the crowd. “The young apprentices had tears in their eyes,” O’Leary recalls. “It was incredible to see how young women were made to feel like they had that sort of support.”

 

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