Serving western Canada's sheet metal industry

By: Jessica Krippendorf

Federal, provincial, and association-led initiatives to draw women into trades – both as a way to mitigate Canada’s impending labour shortage and as a way to encourage fulfi lling, well-paying careers for women – are rolling out in every province, including BC.

Attitudes about women in construction have shifted dramatically over the past ten years, and will continue to shift as numbers rise and generations change hands, says Abigail Fulton, vice-president of BC Construction Association, which offers the Skilled Trades Employment Program (STEP) for Women.

STEP for Women recently received funding from the B.C.’s Industry Training Authority (ITA) to expand its program to hire a provincial director, as well as outreach representatives in each of the Northern, Southern Interior, Vancouver Island, and Lower Mainland regions who will network with employers, interview and assess participants, establish placement and mentorship, and provide retention support.

The biggest problem women in trades are facing, says Fulton, is one of numbers. “The largest hurdle for women in trades isn’t the work; it’s feeling like you are the only one."

“You have to hit a certain percentage of women in the workforce before women become accepted and comfortable, and we just aren’t there yet. Once we reach about 15 per cent I think we will cease to be an underutilized group.”

In the sheet metal industry, the number of women isn’t high, but according to some that is only because women aren’t exposed to the trade early enough to consider it a viable option, and because they aren’t made aware of the pleasant realities of working in the industry.

Sheila Sadler is a sheet metal worker at Viaduct Sheet Metal and just finished her journeyman’s hours in July. She started in the trade five years ago, when a customer at a restaurant where Sadler was working got her connected with the Sheet Metal Workers Training Centre.

Sadler had completed the BCIT Women in Trades program and studied structural steel fabrication, but prospective employers didn’t see heavy steel and her small stature as a good match. She went back to waitressing. When she told the story to a customer, he immediately brought her the union paperwork, which Sadler filled out on a Wednesday, only to be hired by Downtown Custom Metal Works two days later.

“In a way I was kind of given sheet metal,” she says.

She enjoys the challenge, the physical aspect of the job, and the ability to support her children alone on her wage. “I don’t have to rely on anyone to take care of us, and that gives me an inner strength,” she says.

One advantage of working with Viaduct is that the shop is “up on technology,” she says, which keeps her on her toes. “I’m learning the new spiral machine and that’s a good mental challenge. When you get good at something you naturally think you’re good at everything. But having new challenges brings you back to reality.”

Sadler has come up against a few people in the industry who have been a “little more challenging,” but has also experienced a lot of help and support from good people in the union. “If you show people you can do the work, they’ll accept you,” she says. “As soon as [other workers] see that I do my eight hours and respect them because they’re more experienced, there’s no problem.”

Dispelling misconceptions about what it means to be a woman in trades is a message she tries to get across while representing the union at tradeshows and recruitment events. “I am a worker at work; at home I’m a woman and a mom. I wear jewellery and I vaccuum,” she laughs. “I want to show people you can have two sides to your day because anything I can do to encourage someone else to take this step is important.”

Susan McCurdy entered sheet metal in 1993, after a tenyear career in the mining industry. She also attended BCIT’s Women in Trades program, mainly out of interest, and enjoyed the sheet metal component. McCurdy signed up for the fivemonth pre-apprentice course, was accepted into the union, and went to work the day after the course finished.

“I liked the idea of working with my hands, and especially of seeing the evidence of a good day’s work – a pile of sheet metal fittings ready to be shipped to the job site,” she says. “I also liked the idea of having a regular work place by working in the shop as opposed to working as in installer in the field. Most other trades require constant travel to different job sites and do not have the option of working in a shop.”

After six years with United Metals, McCurdy started with Viaduct Sheet Metal where she completed her apprenticeship hours. In 2006 she left the floor to run the newly acquired 3D Duct Detailing program, which is her current position with the company.

McCurdy’s work mainly involves drawing ductwork into AutoCad mechanical background drawings provided by engineers, and downloading them for plasma cutting and fabrication.

While McCurdy did experience a few bumps in the road around being a woman entering a traditionally male dominated career, she says they were more like annoyances than barriers. Surprisingly, the negative attitudes she did come up against were from younger men rather than from the “old timers” who had been in the trade many years.

“I had encountered similar attitudes during my ten-year mining career, so I think I was fairly well equipped to deal with the negatives,” says McCurdy. “Also, I think that by entering into the trade at 30 years old, I had developed a thick enough skin already to not be too affected by any of that.”

McCurdy says the key to attracting more women to trades might be exposure. “I think that educating women from an early stage – even elementary school – that going into a trade is a viable option is important,” she says, adding that girls should be made aware of the realities of working in a trade.

“Trades are not all about being big and strong and getting dirty. Well, actually, you are probably not going to get away from the getting dirty part. But, people are working smarter now, so the days of lifting heavy objects by yourself are practically gone.”

Sixteen years ago, not everyone was convinced that this was the right choice for McCurdy, but after numerous opportunities to travel and being offered the chance to implement the 3D Duct program, she is certain that it was, naming still being in the trade as her biggest accomplishment. “I am still learning every day and that’s what keeps it interesting.

Nicky Stockton also studied at BCIT at the same time as McCurdy and the pair went through the pre-apprentice program together. Stockton started at United Sheet Metal, but was laid off after nine months. She went to Crosstown for nine years, and has been with Main Sheet Metal for the past five and a half years.

She chose architectural sheet metal because of the variety, which is why working at Main doing small, custom jobs has been a great fit for her.

“You never know from one minute to the next what material you’ll be using. You might be working on props for a movie set, stainless kitchen pieces, or aluminum or copper ornamental work. I like that variety and also that you get to see a job through from start to finish.”

Working in trades wasn’t a stretch for Stockton, who grew up around her father’s and grandfather’s metal working shops. She’d worked with tools and learned early on that she was mechanically minded and enjoyed working with her hands.

Although the lack of women in trades may have to do with women not wanting to get their hands dirty, there are plenty of men who feel the same way, says Stockton. “I think it’s really more about whether or not a person is mechanically minded.”

Overall, Stockton says her trade needs more people, not just more women. “[Trades] are something I would like to see more people aspire to rather than settle for,” she says. “A lot of youngsters are just using it as a fill while they are on their way to something else bigger and better. It would be nice to see the odd person really want it, male or female.”

“Maybe if they understood you get a decent wage to train pretty much straight out of school, and in four years you’re making quite a lot of money, they’d be more encouraged.”

Like Sadler, Stockton had to prove herself, especially while she was apprenticing. She pushed herself to acquire more skills both in the shop and at night school. “I wanted to be better. I think I had to be better,” she says. SMJ