Our 2022 London Delegation ended with two jam packed days of networking to connect our North American tradeswomen with delegates from across the world. The goal was to share knowledge and build connections for future collaboration. We were hosted at Unite the Union’s London headquarters.

Day one opened with a speech by special guest Gail Cartmail, Assistant General Secretary of Unite. We also heard from EDF energy about diversity and inclusion in the nuclear sector.

We also heard from special guest Hattie Hasan, founder of Stopcocks Women Plumbers, an organization established in 1990 to help women in construction trades with issues around respect, quality of service, and aftercare. Stopcocks vision is to bring tradeswomen together to change the UK construction and skilled trades landscape for good.

Our second networking day featured participatory activities and sharing on issues and themes relevant to tradeswomen such as family support; training and careers; climate change; migration; working conditions; and barriers to leadership.

We were grateful to benefit from the participation of colleagues from European union affiliates of Building and Woodworkers International and Building and Woodworkers’ union Federation.

The delegates networked with tradeswomen from across North America and around the globe; strategized with Unite the Union on the greatest challenges facing working people; and built leadership experience and skills. This was done through interactive sessions, relying on a combination of formal presentations and group work. Leaving plenty of time for sharing of experiences, solution-focused ideas, and informal relationship and capacity building.