Last year, Tradeswomen Building Bridges had an online exchange with representatives of the global labor federation, Building and Woodworkers International BWI). We had a presentation from Kim Kyungshin of the BWI-affiliate, the Korean Federation of Construction Industry Trade Unions. Kim was representing KFCITU’s Women’s Committee. The Women’s Committee is committed 

• to recruiting women workers, 
• supporting their skills enhancement
• improving the working environment for them in South Korea’s construction industry, a sector that has long been considered male-dominated. 

Under the umbrella of KFCITU, about 3,000 women workers are organized by the Plant Construction Workers’ Union, which covers power plants and large manufacturing facilities construction, and about 300 women carpenters, bar benders, plasterers, etc. and 100 tower crane operators by Construction Workers Union, and a few by construction white collar workers’ union

One of Women Committee’s priorities is to raise awareness about women in trades in the construction sector by showing that women are working in construction sites. To this end, Women’s Committee has held Photo Competitions for Women Construction Workers for the past four years.

Download Kim’s presentation and view the the photos of Korean tradeswomen below.