Women in Trades Association
Organization profile published 1982
Year Published: 1982
Resource Type: Organization
Cx Number: CX2599
Abstract:
WOMEN IN TRADES ASSOCIATION is a volunteer support group of women and men who seek to facilitate the entry of women into training and employment in non-traditional areas. It is a democratic organization which maintains communication with like-minded groups and individuals across Canada. It carries out a variety of educational programmes designed to make women conscious of the opportunities in trades areas, and to create an awareness of the obstacles confronting women who enter these kings of work. Of the 3,000 trades apprentices in Winnipeg this year, only 22 are women. Last year there were only 12. Women working in trades are clearly in a minority situation. WIT lobbies for affirmative action, supporting women as an essential part of the Canadian economy.
Two resources produced by WIT are:
1. Working Women (3/4 in videotape, colour, 27 minutes):
Women Working demonstrates that trades are not "non-traditional" occupations for women, especially
for women on farms and during times of war. Interviews with high school women indicate that most have not considered trades careers, but most of their male counterparts are open to the idea of women working in trades. The programme eliminates many of the stereotypes about why women work in trades and demolishes the idea that being a woman by definition disqualifies one from work in trades areas.
2. Sexual Harrassement - An Education Kit:
"Sexual harrassment in the workplace should not be ignored in the hope that it will disappear....Experience shows that sexual harrassment will only intensify if it is ignored or shrugged off....If you are sexually harrassed, your response should be immediate and direct...." Beginning from this perspective, Sexual Harrassment - An Educational Kit provides a ready fund of information on what consitutes sexual harrassment, how to counter it, how to involve your union and employer, what your legal rights are and where to obtain useful education resources and support services. Developed for the WOMEN IN TRADES ASSOCIATION'S March 1982 conference on sexual harrassment, the kit explores women's position in the workforce and tradition sex roles. It notes the effects of this kind of harrassment on women's health, job performance, and self-esteem. Feminist ethics in the workplace are discussed, the experience of a female construction worker in combatting sexual oppression is documented and several myths related to sexual harrassment are exploded.
Memberships in WIT are avialable to tradeswomen at $5 per year. Associate memberships are open to tradesmen and others at $10 per year.
This abstract was published in the Connexions Digest in 1982.
See also CX2257, CX2717, CX2719, CX2360, CX2718.
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