POLITICS: This week in U.S. President Joe Biden’s Briefing Room, a round table discussion on “ Best Practices to Increase Women in Construction brought a group of public leaders together in a discussion on improving practices that will expand the workforce of construction to include women.
By Michelle Crawford-Sapenter
President Biden met with Director of the Gender Policy Council Jennifer Klein, Domestic Policy Advisor Neera Tanden, and Deputy Chief of Staff Natalie Quillian, alongside Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) Vice Chair Jocelyn Samuels, Solicitor of Labor Seema Nanda, and Department of Commerce CHIPS Program Office Director Michael Schmidt .
The group of private and public leaders engaged in discussion on matters involving the inclusion of women in the workforce that will situate them in good paying jobs. Employment cited for including women were discussed by contractors, labor unions, tradeswomen groups, and advocates.
Fiscussescwere hrld on topics from creating pathways for women and underrepresented groups. The plans are situated for financing via President Joe Biden’s agenda for Investing in America.
Today women represent 11% of construction workers employed in skilled labor; construction trades occupations, working at less than 5%. Biden stated that the need to increase the presence of women in areas of skilled labor construction is a “critical.” point in the Investing in America agenda.
Biden and Harris have stated their commitment to increasing the inclusion of women in goid parlaying jobs in areas of infrastructure, manufacturing and clean energy.
Discussions were held by union leaders, tradeswomen who expanded on successful strategies for recruiting, training, retraining, given the areas :
• GlobalFoundries and Polar Semiconductor joined Intel and Micron in voluntarily committing to the Department of Commerce’s CHIPS Women in Construction Framework. Under the Framework, companies will work with contractors, trade unions, and other community and workforce partners to implement best practices that will expand the construction workforce by increasing the participation of women and economically disadvantaged individuals. So far, companies have convened and engaged stakeholders on this topic in sites with ongoing or planned semiconductor projects, including Boise, ID, Syracuse, NY, Columbus, OH, and Albany, NY, as well as plans to do so in Bloomington, MN. These recruitment and retention best practices will help support on-time and successful completion of CHIPS program-funded projects.
• Bechtel and Turner Construction joined Mortenson and other construction companies in signing onto the Department of Commerce’s Million Women in Construction Community Pledge. The Pledge is a call to action to encourage companies to build on their workforce development and recruitment efforts to broaden opportunities for women. By signing onto the Pledge, industry leaders are signaling an ongoing commitment to increase women’s access to training, jobs and leadership opportunities.
• Bechtel and Turner Construction join Mortensen, Baker Construction, Gilbane Building Company, McKissack & McKissack, Power Design, Shawmut Design and Construction, and Suffolk Construction who signed on last month.
• The EEOC released a new resource, Promising Practices for Preventing Harassment in the Construction Industry, detailing promising practices for preventing and remedying harassment in the construction industry, including committed and engaged leadership; consistent and demonstrated accountability; strong and comprehensive harassment policies; trusted and accessible complaint procedures; and regular, interactive training tailored to the construction workplace.
• The Department of Commerce, Department of Energy, and Department of Transportation, in consultation with the Department of Labor, will publish a new resource about best practices for both project success and increasing inclusion of women in construction trades.
The round table agenda focused on removing barriers and increasing access for women and underrepresented groups. Involved in the agenda is the US Department of Commerce requiring CHIPS & Science funded participants include women and provide access to reliable , high quality, affordable child care for their employees.
The U.S. Department of Labor is Building on Equitable Infrastructure Workforce : Gender, Equity, Strategies as a Model. Tge model will include strategies and resources , examples for building a diverse workforce, conducting targeted recruitment, addressing barriers to entry, retaining a diverse workforce..
Investing In Smerica; tge US Department of Transportation will build on the r premise of Best zPractices to Expand Access to Jobs whike detailing for underrepresented populations; providing access to women in construction industry and offering recommendations for enhancing diversity in tge workforce.
“Participants included representatives from companies that have signed onto the CHIPS Women in Construction Framework (Intel Corporation, Micron Technology, GlobalFoundries, and Polar Semiconductor); companies that have signed onto the Million Women in Construction Community Pledge (Mortenson, Bechtel, Turner Construction); as well as labor union and advocate partners from North America’s Building Trades Unions, TradesFutures, International Union of Painters and Allied Trade, United Association, and Equal Rights Advocates.”
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