1992 Summer Fall Newsletter

NEWSLETTER WITTWOMEN IN TRADES, TECHNOLOGY National, OPERATIONS & BLUE COLLAR WORK network SUMMER/FALL 1992 VOLUME 2, NUMBER 2 Reportby Marcia Braundy from thecountry ,National with contact names, phone numbers an d aCoordinator brief descrip• tion of the projects (See pg. 14 for ad). his issue marks the last one you will receive if you are not WITT groups in Ontario (ONWITT), the Western Region Ta subscriber, or a regular or associate member of WITT (Victoria WITT), and Newfoundland have been organizing region• National Network. Currently we are assisted by Employment and al conferences, to provide support for local women, and to follow Immigration Canada (EIC) to increase the numbers and enhance up on some of the contacts and activities generated at Surviving the experience of women training and working in trades, technolo• and Thriving II. The ONWITT's conference is being held in gy, operations and blue collar work (TTO/BCW), and the WITT Midland in mid-October, and I'm honoured to be invited as one of National Network must become increasingly self-supporting. We their keynote speakers. Newfoundland and Labrador WITT mem• will be doing this through the sale of memberships (see pg. ???), bers are planning a provincial conference for February of 1993 resource materials, consultation services, corporate and union (See Keeping Our WITT s About Us). donations, and through the sale of our next book, available in Since our last newsletter, several of us have been down to the November: Surviving and Thriving II - Employment Equity Issues Seattle Women In Trades Fair, an annual event to which many for Women in Trades, Technology, Operations and Blue Collar large and small employers and unions send their male and female Work. workers to demonstrate trades and technical occupations for bus• By ensuring the vitality of the Network, you will be able to loads of school children and interested adults. They also set up continue to access information, support, encouragement, ideas, booths to describe entry requirements and how to go about apply• innovative examples of successful projects, and constructive criti• ing, and to indicate their support for hiring and retaining women in cism of initiatives being undertaken for training, employing, and their fields of work. Outside, manual dexterity tests and physical retaining women in technical and operational fields. We know that endurance tests are administered; if you pass, you can apply for a the assistance and resources that we are providing are being used job. At the same time, there are workshops for WITT women and with increasing frequency as the needs grow to respond to work• several plenary sessions where our foremothers and mentors were place issues arising from employment equity initiatives. We con• honoured. Quite an event...it would be nice if some active and tinue to encourage successful integration for both our WITT committed cities in Canada took up the idea! women and the employers, unions and educators with whom they The B.C. women who attended used the opportunity to have are working. We sincerely hope you will all continue to support us their first planning meeting for the Spring 1993 regional confer• as we move towards greater self-sufficiency. ence, and are now hard at work raising funds and planning for the Since the first Surviving and Thriving Conference, and after first Western Regional WITT Conference. the groundwork laid at the first Women In Trades conference in On other fronts, at the WITT/IAS meeting in June in Montreal Winnipeg in 1980, local and regional WITT groups have grown in (see pg. 2) we received an update on the efforts of the graduates of number from 6 across the country in 1988, to 34 groups in 1992. the Bridges program at the City of Toronto. WITT would like to Following Surviving and Thriving II -The Sequel, held in Ottawa offer our congratulations and support to the Bridges Alumna in February, those grassroots groups have been organizing, devel• Association whose Human Rights complaint against CURE Local oping support and assistance at local and regional levels. The work 43 and the City of Toronto has been accepted by the HR of WITT groups was recognized as essential recently when the Commission. This court decision, relating to the movement of employers and unions on the WITT National Network/IAS workers between locals with one employer and maintaining Committee (See pg???) strongly recommended that one of the seniority and benefits, will be a major decision for women consid• objectives of that committee be the fostering of local and regional ering moving from disappearing clerical jobs to trades and techni• WITT groups and a strengthening of the WITT National Network. cal work. This comes from a recognition of the need for support systems for women who often work in isolating and sometimes alienating cir• I have been sitting, as WITT's Representative, on the cumstances. If our integration efforts are to be really successful, Canadian Labour Force Development Board's (CLFDB) Sub- we must finds ways, both inside and outside the workplace, to pro• Committee on Apprenticeship. We have had two meetings and are mote women-friendly work environments. still in the process of determining our tasks. The recognition of the need for a place at the table for WITT was something I fought very To this end, we are about to publish an annotated Directory of hard for during the Task Force on Apprenticeship in 1989/90. Programs and Initiatives for Recruitment and Retention undertak• Little did I know that individual in that place would be me! en by employers, unions, WITT groups and educators around the Having WITT/at the table bodes well for our discussions and the WITT NATIONAL NEWSLETTER 1 SUMMER/FALL 1992 implementation of recommendations relating to the low participa• you are interested in receiving one for comment. tion of women and other designated groups. Maree Farrell, the Exec/Admin Assistant at the National At the first one, I distributed a great deal of background infor• Network office attended a short course, "Publicity for Non-profit mation on WITT issues, as well as the new National Standards and Organizations." She came back and prepared an excellent Press Kit Program Development Guidelines for WITT Courses and Trade- for us which has been sent out to media contacts across the coun• Specific Courses for Women. We will be exploring how to use try. If you are interested in using this kit, which provides good these at future meetings. The Standards and Guidelines, (develop• clear background material on our organization, please contact the ment sponsored by WITT/IAS, several Provinces and industry office. She also set up a session for me to talk to the local Rotary groups) have also been distributed widely through the Canadian association (may be the only one in Canada that doesn't yet admit Council of Directors of Apprenticeship Symposium and a targeted women). From my challenging experience, I can recommend that mass mailing. The chart, of those elements that should be included this is probably a very important group for us to get our messages in any of these courses, has been incorporated as the centerfold for out to. They say small business will be doing most of the hiring in this issue. Do not hesitate to utilize these resources in your discus• the next few years, and it appears there is a great deal of work to be sions about programming for women. We understand that EIC done to get them on side. would "lift the cap" on Apprenticeship funding to the provinces for We have been hard at work on editing for the Surviving and putting such "equity" initiatives in place. Thriving II book, as well as searching for funds to print it. If you Of course, the Federal Government may no longer have any know of anyone who has an extra $2-3000 in their back pocket to say at all, as training is to become an exclusively provincial matter put into a worthy cause, it looks like there is some very good mate• if the Constitutional Referendum passes. rial in the new book that the Canadian public (and the US too) The Reference Group to the Women's Representative on the would be interested in reading. CLFDB (Marcy Cohen) continues to function, and held its annual Don't forget to send in your membership fees to keep our use• consultation of national women's groups and reps from training ful and vital organization alive and able to send out these interest• coalitions across the country. It was good to see several WITT ing and informative newsletters to you, and continue to work women involved. The Reference Group did send out a press actively with all of the people who have a part to play in training release expressing concern over changes to Section 92 of the and employing women in positive and healthy working environ• Constitution, (which gives sole jurisdiction for training to the ments in technical and operational occupations. provinces) as this will hinder the implementation of national stan• N.B. We contacted several organizations for advertising in our dards and create a patchwork of access and equity principles. Call newsletter, some of whom may do so in future issues. We would the WITT office if you want more information. like to encourage all of you to ask for our ad rate sheet, and use The Women's Agenda on Training draft should be out very this great opportunity to market your initiatives in our publication. soon for comment across the country. Please contact the office if We also accept employment related ads. News from around the country - WITT/IAS here has been a request that we define IAS for the newsletter Trade-Specific Courses for Women which are being promoted for T audience.

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