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A Helping Hand
PWC, NEW Support Women
in the Industry
by Amy S. Choi
Women have come a long way, but perhaps not long enough.
"In the 1970s, I went into a builders meeting and was
the only woman in the room. Somebody thought I was a hooker,"
laughed Lenore Janis, president of Professional Women in Construction
and a 30-year veteran of the construction industry.
"That was a last time I ever went to a contractors meeting
without having my bond salesman accompany me. But then later
on in the early 80s I attended a meeting in Manhattan and
a lovely gentleman came up to me and said, 'You must do interior
design, right?' So, at least it was a step."
Janis didn't come into construction with the intention of
changing the industry. Her initial goal was more simple -
to earn a salary and support two children. So as most women
did in 1972, she joined the family business - a steel fabricating
erection firm - and began handling its office work and insurance
needs.
When the family business shut down, Janis took the opportunity
to pick up some of the employees and start her own steel erection
firm at a time when then-President Jimmy Carter issued an
executive order for the government to give more public assistance
to women and minorities.
She launched Erasteel and from 1980-1986 participated in
the numerous public infrastructure projects in New York City.
During that time, Janis and a dozen colleagues formed Professional
Women in Construction as a volunteer organization to create
public awareness of the existence of women in the industry
and create a support system and a centralized voice of advocacy.
Now, the nonprofit has more than 500 dues-paying individual
and business members in the tri-state area, many of whom are
men.
Professional Women in Construction and the nonprofit Nontraditional
Employment for Women form the backbone of women's organizations
in the industry.
While PWC offers networking opportunities and advocates for
women in the public realm, NEW helps women to get over the
first hurdle of education to make their first strides into
construction. It trains between 200-225 women a year in the
New York City area, graduating more than half of them each
year as preapprentices in the trades and other skilled blue
collar occupations such as the utilities and transportation
industries.
"We want to empower women to move into careers where
they can provide for their families, make a healthy living
and really reach equality with men," said Patricia Jones,
NEW's executive director. "This is an area where a woman
without a college education can do this, but it's not easy.
We want to make women aware that this is a viable career option
for them."
Once women are placed in the unions, the organization also
helps them work through challenges such as having an unsupportive
union that does not help them find a job, or, once they do
have a job, being an only woman on a jobsite.
Jones, who has a degree in urban planning from Columbia University
and a background in nonprofit administration, is working now
with the unions to create a more supportive environment for
women. She and recently met with officials from the AFL/CIO,
which is attempting to take a more active role nationally
for the cause of women in construction.
"Most unions are looking for qualified workers, whoever
they are," Jones said. "But the number of women
is still so small that it is difficult for them because they
stand out so much. It's not easy to be unique."
The public arena has provided much of the battleground for
both NEW and PWC. Given the federal and city legislation requiring
minority and women participation on publicly funded projects,
New York City developments of the past few decades have allowed
for more women to get involved. Now, as the number of women
in the industry grows, some private companies are also committing
to supplier diversity. One of the major triumphs of New York
City has been the Time Warner Center, in which 20 percent
of the contracts were given to minorities and women.
"By law, they didn't have to do that," Janis said.
"It is a major accomplishment, and we are starting to
see more and more companies that want that kind of participation."
Currently, the developments on the West Side and the rebuilding
of Lower Manhattan are providing ample opportunities for women
in construction. NEW, along with the Lower Manhattan Development
Corp., is preparing a job fair in the spring for women to
make them aware of the jobs available for them.
The joint effort is also working closely with the private
developers on the project to increase the number of women
at all skill levels on the sites.
"There are so many possibilities right now," Jones
said. "With everything that is happening in the construction
industry in New York, the potential for making a real impact
is now."
With support from local heavy hitters in both the public
and private spectrums - including former mayors Andrew Cuomo
and Ed Koch as well as Lisa Silverstein, Dave Pickett, Ed
Malloy and Lou Coletti - women are making deeper strides into
the construction industry as both trades people and leaders.
Still, there is work to be done.
"I used to bring my payroll out to the guys in the field,
and I would be the only woman there," Janis said. "So
I asked my foreman, 'Tommy, do you think they resent me because
I'm a woman?' And he said to me, 'Hell no! As long as you
bring in the jobs, we're happy to work for you.'"
"We are truly getting out the information that we exist.
We have felt that we were up against a concrete ceiling, and
I'm not sure how one can break through a concrete ceiling,
but we're getting closer."
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