“You can’t spell Brot(her)hood without ‘Her’!”
San Francisco, CA – The IBEW 1245 Women’s Committee broke bread with the brothers and sisters of IBEW Local 6 at their second annual Celebration of International Women’s History month.
Back: Local 6 Assistant Business Manager Osha Ashworth, 1245 Sub Station Electrician Diana Dooley; 1245 Electrical Sub Station Apprentice Lauren Trout, 1245 Business Representative Nicole Brooks, Local 6 Business Manager John Doherty, IBEW International Representative Marcie Obremski, Dave Reaves, 2nd Vice President Ninth District of the IBEW. Front: 1245 Waste Water Treatment Plant Operator Nicole Caldwell & 1245 Sr. Advisor Eileen Purcell.
Close to one hundred fifty members gathered for the celebratory dinner which was held at Local 6’s Union Hall in San Francisco.
IBEW Local 6 Business Manager John J. Doherty welcomed the crowd which included Local 6 members and guests from Local 1245, Local 617 and Local 302 as well as Dave Reaves, 2nd Vice President Ninth District of the IBEW and IBEW International Representative Marcie Obremski out of the 9th District.
Representatives of the Building Trades, three electrical Contractors, and Sisters with Tools, a free apprenticeship program sponsored by the San Francisco Building Trades, also participated.
Brother Reaves commended the women and men gathered and reiterated IBEW’s commitment to increasing the number of women in the trades.
He noted that the number of women entering apprenticeship programs has risen by 90% since 2016, while acknowledging that the number of women in the trades remains 9.5%. “A percentage we will increase,” said Reaves. How? By exposing girls and young women to the trades, tutoring them, mentoring them, organizing them, including them in promotional materials, recruiting them, and providing scholarships.
He encouraged brothers in the trade, saying, “Be mentors at the job site…be an ally, be an upstander, not a bystander, and ensure they are treated with dignity and respect.”
Sister Obremski, a first-generation union member in her family, shared her story, saying, “It took me four attempts over four years to get into an apprenticeship program at MTA.” She credited a shop steward – a mentor – who pressed her to keep trying. “They told me not to give up.” On the 4th interview, “I told the committee ‘I don’t know what its going to take to get in, but I’m coming back every year, even if it takes doing a cartwheel,” she said. That was the year she was accepted. Today she serves on the International’s Women’s Committee and is the liaison with registered and informal Women’s Committees across the 9th District.
IBEW 1245 members. Back: Sub Station Electrician Diana Dooley, Sr. Advisor Eileen Purcell, Business Rep. Nicole Brooks. Front: Sub Apprentice Electrical Apprentice Lauren Trout & Waste Water Treatment Plant Operator Nicole Caldwell.
“What kind of mentor do you want to be?” asked Obremski, inviting locals to participate in an emerging mentorship program, Small Connections that the International has piloted.
Her advice to young women considering the trades: “Never give up.…keep going, keep shattering the glass ceiling, let them know you are in the room.” She added, “You can’t spell Brotherhood without her.”
Brother Doherty then recognized two outstanding sisters from Local 6 – Frances Rios, an inside electrical foreman and Ana Valdillez, the recently appointed Safety Officer for Local 6 to a rousing ovation.
IBEW Local 6 Assistant Business Manager Osha Ashworth closed the event saying, “Women are capable. Don’t ever let your gender define you…Whatever you choose to do, put your best foot forward. I’ve been fortunate to work with many great mentors, many women and many men.”
She called upon everyone in the room to teach our children. Show our “boys and girls they are capable, from building sandcastles to building skyscrapers.”
– Eileen Purcell, Sr. Advisor