ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — Amanda Rees was still searching for a career path when she saw a presentation from the Office to Advance Women Apprentices (OAWA).
"They got me thinking about the trades, and they told me about the orientation to trades and technology program," the Conception Bay South native told The Telegram. "They piqued my interest in the first place, which is important."
A visual artist who was working retail jobs at the time, Rees was delighted to learn about opportunities in skilled trades she was otherwise unaware of.
"When I found the millwright trade, I found that had a lot of different trade elements in it — like welding and a bit of electrical, hydraulics and a little bit of everything — and that made me interested in it."
OAWA is celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2019, and activity happening elsewhere in Canada suggests the organization's efforts to bring women into skilled trades in Newfoundland and Labrador have not gone unnoticed.
Model organization
The OAWA model is being replicated in several other provinces — Manitoba, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Saskatchewan.
OAWA executive director Karen Walsh was in Nova Scotia Wednesday for the official opening of a new office in Middle Sackville.
"We've been looked at as a national best practice by the federal government and by the Canadian Building Trades (Unions)," Walsh said.
In collaboration with the latter group and the Atlantic Canada Regional Council of Carpenters, Millwrights and Allied Workers, OAWA has presented proposals to the federal government and received funding to open these new offices, which are now up and running.
Walsh has been with OAWA for nine of those 10 years.
"When I started, the thing was with women, there's one woman on the job site," Walsh said. "Or companies were saying, 'I've never had a woman before. How am I going to incorporate a woman?' Now women are saying, 'Every corner I turn, there's another woman.'”
Today, employers contact OAWA directly looking for workers from a variety of skilled trades backgrounds. Walsh credits communication and partnerships as key components to reaching this point. She also acknowledges the value of the benefits and diversity agreements the provincial government negotiated for major projects in recent years.
"We got out there. We worked not only with the tradeswomen, but with the trades unions, the contractors large and small, talking to them and by no means dictating, 'You need to have a woman,' but, 'Are you looking to have your organization become more inclusive. If so, this is what we have to offer, at no cost to you. How can we assist you?'"
Introductions
Red Seal ironworker Kim Roche was introduced to the skilled trades in 2003 through her father, Conrad McCarthy, before the OAWA existed. Today, she's an instructor at the education and training centre for Ironworkers Local 764 — the first female instructor in ironworking ever for Newfoundland and Labrador. OAWA recently made her the first recipient of its Trail Blazer Award, recognizing her efforts to inspire other women to excel.
"I had no work, and I had just moved home from Ontario with two small children," Roche recalled of her situation just before she started to pursue training.
Roche was the only woman in a class of seven when she started, though there were other women working in the trade she admits to looking up to at the time.
Moving into the skilled trades has worked out well for Roche, who now has four children and finds her position as an instructor helpful when it comes to maintaining a good work-life balance.
She worked off the island for two years and enjoyed the work experience, but it was not something she could see herself doing long-term.
"I loved where I worked, but I hated Alberta," she said, noting her entire family moved for the job. "I just wanted (to be) home so bad."
"Sometimes we need to stick together, even though we're trying to be part of the boys' club. We still need to support each other for our own needs, because women obviously are different than men in many ways." — Kim Roche
Different jobs
Her experiences on the job have been admittedly mixed and largely dependent on the work environment.
"Every job is different. I've been on jobs that I cried every morning to go to work, and I've been on jobs that I've been up three hours before I've got to go to work," she said. "The change is happening, but it's slow."
There are a lot of female ironworkers in the province (more than 70 in her union) and they have a committee that Roche helped start.
"We'd have meetings and get together and people would cry, vent out and we'd just support each other," she said. "If someone had a question on how to handle a certain situation, we'd talk about it. … Sometimes we need to stick together, even though we're trying to be part of the boys' club. We still need to support each other for our own needs, because women obviously are different than men in many ways."
Rees says her experience working as an apprentice millwright has been largely positive.
"I've found, for the most part, most men are very accommodating and very happy to see a woman in their workplace. It's been a good experience for me so far."
Facts about the Office to Advance Women Apprentices
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Helped 96 women gain employment within the first five months of 2019 — its target for the entire year was 60.
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Assisted with more than 1,300 employment opportunities in its history.
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Has over 1,900 registered tradeswomen.
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Worked with 174 tradeswomen from apprenticeship through to obtaining Red Seal certification.
Family life
Rees has only worked jobs in Newfoundland so far, and with a 21-month-old toddler to care for, she expects to stay close to home for at least a few years.
"It's been hard, too — it took me a long time to get my current job," she said, noting employment in her field has been very competitive of late. "I am willing to go away eventually, but right now, it's hard."
Walsh says many women working in skilled trades are reluctant to accept positions in other parts of Canada, with family life often a contributing factor. (Walsh said there are a lot of single moms in skilled trades). With the Newfoundland and Labrador economy experiencing a downturn, OAWA is focusing most of its efforts on finding jobs for the workers it represents in small and medium-size businesses.
"Some employers are actually looking for homegrown apprentices — people that are going to come, stay and be entrenched into their company," she said.
Rees says OAWA has helped her in a lot of different ways. Most notably, she was concerned about adding to her student debt, but through OAWA she obtained grants that ultimately allowed her to learn her trade without having to pay a cent. She's grateful to be pursuing a fulfilling and lucrative career as a result of OAWA's encouragement.
"They prepared me for the work environment I was going into," she said. "They spoke to people on my behalf if I wasn't sure or had questions, and (if) they didn't know the answer, they'd find the answer for me. And they were just there to lean on if I was frustrated or I'd lost my confidence. Anything like that, they were always there to pick me up again and push me forward.
Especially as a woman, they understand all the other home things and the personal things that we go through. They've just been great."
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Twitter: @CBNAndrew
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