BCBusiness

September 2019 - Women's Work

With a mission to inform, empower, celebrate and advocate for British Columbia's current and aspiring business leaders, BCBusiness go behind the headlines and bring readers face to face with the key issues and people driving business in B.C.

Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/1159085

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 34 of 71

SEPTEMBER 2019 BCBUSINESS 35 ing key public sector infrastructure projects like the replacement Pattullo Bridge. Part of BCIB's mandate as employer is to handle hiring, with an emphasis on women, Indig- enous people and youth, ensuring that workers receive training and apprenticeship opportunities along with union-level wages. This sparked a lawsuit, filed in B.C. Supreme Court in March, by a coalition of construc- tion associations that oppose the CBA being the sole employer for public projects. The construction industry is starting to take responsibility for discriminatory workplaces, says Lisa Stevens, chief strat- egy officer of the B.C. Construction Associa- tion, which represents 25,000 employers of union and non-union workers in the indus- trial, commercial and institutional sectors. This past March, the BCCA, in collaboration with the provincial Ministry of Advanced Education, Skills and Training, the ITA, WorkSafeBC, the Minerva Foundation for BC Women—which partners with organi- zations to advance gender parity—and four construction associations, launched the Builders Code. The code, which covers all workers, sets standards of behaviour that go beyond physical safety and embraces the elimina- tion of workplace distractions caused by hazing, harassment, bullying and discrimi- nation. It's designed to make the workplace more inviting to women, Indigenous people, youth and new Canadians, Stevens notes. One goal is to raise the proportion of females in the trades to 10 percent from 4.7 percent over the next decade. "That 113-percent increase is an ambitious goal," Stevens says. The biggest hurdle is retention. "What has happened in the past is, if you bring a woman onto a crew and she's not integrating well, they might move her to a different crew or a different project. Or she might quit," Stevens says. Although this might happen to a man, she adds, "the visible minority is more likely to trigger the move more quickly. So what we're struggling with is retention of tradeswomen, and that's one of the reasons for the Builders Code." The architects of the code are also pro- viding companies with human resources advisers who go to job sites to help employ- ers and their work teams with dispute reso- lution, and coaches who help ensure best practices for worksite safety. The goal is to "work with the employer to succeed in retaining that tradesperson who is having an issue," Stevens explains. "What we're trying to do is drive this culture change by giving employers the tools, resources and informa- tion that they need to succeed, because they really need that extra assistance." Young women are saying amen to that. Back in Victoria, at the Our Place Therapeu- tic Recovery Community job site, Maddy Smith, 29, of New Hazelton reflects on her work as a second-year apprentice plumber and Camosun College student. "Women who wear mascara every day—they're insane," she says with a grin. Smith, 5'5", is strong enough to heave a hot water tank into place by herself. On her own, she also does plumbing jobs at private residences, where she's amused by male homeown- ers "who hover," giving unwanted—and unneeded—advice. Women in the trades, Smith says resignedly, "have more to prove than a dude." n

Articles in this issue

Archives of this issue

view archives of BCBusiness - September 2019 - Women's Work