Tradeswomen Building Bridges: the North American Network of Women Working in the Construction Trades

Our partners AWWCI – Association of Women Workers in the Construction Industry are speaking out about unsafe work sites and demanding accountability.

AWWCI demands accountability

Our 1st international call of 2026 started off with a good presentation on recently published research. The chapter titled Climate change policies and gender equity What are the views of women who work in construction? focuses on the constructions sector and their role in climate change policy, particular from the views of women working with the tools. The researches, Dr. Coralie Guedes and Dr. Vivian Price shared the findings from interviewing 16 North American union tradeswomen and how conversations of climate change show up on the job site. They also shared how these conversations can help organize more women into working out in the field and making pathways for women to enter into the trades.

The open source book Feminist Climate Policy in Industrialised States A Gender-Just Climate Emergency Response explores the importance of having women to be part of the decision-making, policy-making and community organizing process.

The recording of the conversation can be found here: 1st Quarter 2026 International Call and accessed with the passcode: kGzXzN4@

Registration Link: Zoom link to register

Join your International Trades Sisters for our 1^st Quarter meet-up. This quarters international speakers Dr. Coralie Guedes and Dr. Vivan price to discuss there contribution to the recently published book Feminist Climate Policy in Industrialised States. 

Dr. Guedes and Dr. Price will present their research and interviews of women working with the tools on the topic of Climate Change Policies and Gender Equity.

Dr. Coralie Guedes holds a PhD on the relevance of Global Framework Agreements for labor agency in processes of transnational environmental regulation through the University of Westminster, UK.

Dr. Vivian Price is Professor at California State University, Dominguez Hills,

USA and former union electrician, a researcher and filmmaker on labor and

climate justice. Her films include Transnational Tradeswomen, Harvest of

Loneliness and Talking Union, Talking Climate, centering experiences of

gendered and racialized identity and climate.

Dr. Linda Clarke is Emeritus Professor in the Centre for the Study of the

Production of the Built Environment, University of Westminster, UK, where

she has carried out comparative research on vocational education and training, employment, industrial relations, gender, equality, climate change, and

labor in the construction sector.

Jane Vargas, Co-founder and coordinator of the Association of Women Workers in the Construction Industry (AWWCI),  presented the history of AWWCI and its support of women. From education of workers and women’s rights to skills training to advocacy work and learned outcomes. AWWCI is a pro-union, pro-gender equality, pro-growth of fair and sustainable opportunities for all people.

Thank you to our sibling and partner in the Global Tradeswomen network for share with us so that we can share with you.

You can find the slide presentation in our ‘Research & Reports’ tab under The Philippines and the recording of the presentation is here. Passcode: VtsUJ&4G

Some moves are being made in the UK to have national site standard for women in construction – it is currently being discussed at the House of Lords.

“Construction cannot resolve its skills crisis, meet future demand or maintain public confidence without attracting and retaining women,”

Lets hope this 11 point framework makes some traction in the UK.

https://www.constructionforwomen.co.uk/what-we-do/national-site-standard

This article highlights the continued struggles that women of India face in the informal construction sector and offers ways, that will benefit ALL workers, to change that.

https://feminisminindia.com/2026/01/13/invisible-by-design-how-indias-construction-sector-systematically-marginalises-women-workers/

“Women construction workers are not marginal contributors to India’s growth but are central to it. Cities rise on their labour even as policies and practices continue to erase their presence.”

Registration Link: 4th Quarter International Call Link

Join your International Trades Sisters for our Quarterly zoom meet-up. This quarters international speaker is Ms. Jane Vargas of Association of Women Workers in the Construction Industry (AWWCI) in Quezon City, Philippines 

Jane Vargas is a women and workers advocate, Construction Safety Officer, Community Development, Organizer, Union leader, Co-founder and coordinator of the Association of Women Workers in the Construction Industry (AWWCI). 

AWWCI, established in 2004, is an association of women construction workers Painters, Carpenters, Masons and Welders from different parts of the Philippines. They aim to recognize all women workers in the construction industry with social protection, social justice, equality and gender perspectives without any forms of discrimination and effective response and participation of women in all labor matters. 

Podcast – A Force for Good

Hear union members from S. Korea, Ukraine and the UK share that even under the harshest conditions – war, austerity, and repression – trade unions remain a force for democracy, dignity, and hope.

“Unions are the life blood of democracy…and have the power to bring together all social movements as a shared force for change…”

Our 3rd Quarter International Tradeswomen meet-up was an inspiring one!

Thresiamma Mathews, director of Archana Women’s Center (AWC) – Kerala, India, presented the history of AWC and its support of women. From skills training to community education, from understanding women’s rights to political engagement, from self defense classes to female empowerment – AWC continues to be a space for women to learn, grow and become economically stable members of the community.

We are grateful to have our friend and partner in the Global Tradeswomen network share with us so that we can share with you.

You can find the slide presentation in our ‘Research & Reports’ tab under India and the recording of the presentation is here. Passcode: Sk8ZWzW&

TBB started the weekend in Chicago with a table at the CWIT ‘Building the Tradeswomen Movement’ event – sharing the mementos and stories from our various delegations.

It was great to reconnect with fellow TBB members and welcome our BWI friends from Switzerland and Norway.

We ended the weekend sharing our TBB history and future plans at Tradeswomen Taskforce. It was an exciting weekend full of reconnecting and building new connections as we continue to hold up the importance that a women’s place is in her union!