Above All a Tradeswoman
Author Chris L. Belec-Joannette June 21, 2021
I am currently writing a journal, called “Above All a Tradeswoman”. When I ran across this article “The jobs where sexual harassment and discrimination never stopped”. Vanessa Carman is one of a small number of foremen in the trades who are female. Women are often denied training that helps them advance their careers.1
The article was written Hechinger Report is a national nonprofit newsroom that reports on one topic: education. They write newsletters to get stories like this delivered directly to your inbox.1
I try finding articles that show improvement for women in the trades whenever I can. One is an article in the Chicago Tribune titled, “Crafting a Friendship” in the business section. It is about two women Mary Alice McMurray and Mary Ellen Renz named to the executive board of the Pacific Northwest Regional Council of Carpenters which consists of Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington and Wyoming. They both came from the Illinois Valley. I met Mary Ellen Renz at the International Sisters in the Brotherhood conference in 2002, in Las Vegas, Nevada. In Illinois the carpenters' are in the Chicago Regional Council of Carpenters where I started in union carpentry in 1979.
Just like politics, the change for gender discrimination in construction is different depending on each state. I, tried as an Organizer for different organizations with other tradeswomen helping to try and make change for women in construction in the Illinois region for many years.
Found out in many instances discrimination in the construction trades has not changed since my retirement from the Chicago District of Carpenters in 2009 as I had hoped. Across the United States! Gender barriers are still deeply embe dded in the organizations like unions and culture of the construction workplace.
My story starts in 1967 and finishes in 2021.
A short synopsis of the Authors Preface to my journal (maybe book):
My journey had always to be a carpenter. I expected not only a challenging job but also the chance to be part of a historic transformation, social and economic, that would make the construction trades accessible to women. That transformation did not happen until years after I started with affirmative action laws.
It includes my many jobs I had along the way, teaching myself to become a carpenter. I knew no one in my family who were in the trades. Nor did they have any friends that were. My mother’s family Helene' came from Canada. She was one of my first role models for hard work. And I loved her dearly! But I left home at 18 years old to pursue my dreams.
I knew that it would be difficult, because I never heard of a female carpenter anywhere at my young age of 18. It was exceedingly difficult trying to find work in an all-male oriented construction industry. But my story tells all.
Even my family thought I was crazy for dropping not going to college to pursue this kind of career. I was awarded scholarships in physical education and music at the University of Chicago.
There were many angry and frustrating days along my journey to success, and I sometimes took it out on the people around me. But all in all, it made me tuff for what was to come.
It was always puzzling to me also as to why I was so passionate about becoming a carpenter, but I knew I would love it because I liked working with my hands, building things and being outside. The cold never bothered me, but the heat did.
I found out later in life that it had to be biological even though no one in my family had been in trade in the United States. When I found my biological parents in Canada, I found out almost every family member was in a trade. Including an uncle who owned one of the largest commercial contracting companies in Montreal, Quebec, called “Celeb Construction Company”. My last name spelled backwards Belec.
My name was shortened from Joannette to Joanet in the United States. Then when I found out the parents that raised me where not my real parents. I found out my biological parents sur-name was Belec.
I however did not find any of this out until I was almost 60 years old.
My journey took me to places and things I never dreamed I would be doing. Including fighting for the right to be carpenter as a woman thru-out the 1990’s. I found out that gender barriers were are deeply embe dded in the organizations like unions and culture of the construction workplace.
I have always been self-educated. I have written many articles online for equal rights. I have owned and managed construction jobsites. Including joining many other organizations along the way.
I currently live in Montreal, Quebec, Canada where I retired too in 2018. Canada wanted me to use my adoptive parents surname so now it is Chris L. Joannette. I decided not to use my biological parents’ surname Belec.
My story tells the rest. Total of
Resources:
1 The Jobs Where Sexual Harassment and Discrimination never Stop
Article Dated: January 31, 2021
https://hechingerreport.org/the-jobs-where-harassment-and-discrimination-never-stopped/
