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

The first Midwest Tradeswomen Summit brought together union members from Kansas and Missouri and reunited TBB delegates from India 2017 and London 2022.

TBB spoke during the lunchtime slot, where we shared our history, mission and some highlights from our past delegations. We also heard from three of the Midwest area leaders and TBB alumni as they shared about their journeys into the trades and how they navigated tough situations by building their confidence and earning respect as they rose into leadership positions.

Thank you to the Midwest Summit team for giving us a space to share the importance of building international tradeswomen networks.

Growing Through Indigenous Identity and Culture to Overcome Obstacles with Local 343 Member Angel Anderson

2nd Quarter Meet-up: June 14, 2025 at 14:00 UTC/10:00 am EST (Saturday)

Registration Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/…/register/CPi97HOQRSuPF6PFJG7JkQ

Join your International Trades Sisters for our Quarterly zoom meet-ups. This quarters an international speaker is Dr Rosa Schiano-Phan from the ProBE center of the University of Westminster ,London UK 

Dr. Schiano-Phan, an architect researcher,  will share her research on women in the building industry can build better and help in the reduction of the performance gap and carbon emissions from the lifecycle of buildings (design, construction and operation)

This article out of Nepal hits on all the major points when talking about the gender wage gap: people do not think women are strong enough to do skilled labor – instead only given opportunity to perform manual labor for less pay; laws that are not enforced, etc. Read on to hear some research supported ways (transparency, accountability, etc) this injustice can change!

Labor Day and women’s struggle for fair wages

In March, TBB was honored to speak at the California Union Women Stronger Together Conference held in Los Angles. Five members, representing each of our delegations, shared their experiences to an audience of 500 union women and allies. We discussed the history of TBB and a brief summary of our 4 delegations, and our TBB alumni reflected on how the delegations have impacted them and why they believe in the work of building international tradeswomen networks.

TBB Member Kristine Byers, Red Seal carpenter out of Alberta, Canada, wrote a great article for the United Brotherhood of Carpenters union paper about the Philippines delegation, check it out!

https://ubcbuilt.ca/building-bridges-my-experience-with-the-tbb-delegation-by-kristine-byers/?_cldee=BqVr5lKVJeFwcV3uwBnRLn0GjCOXBXrmj8l5EI4evjwMeAnllGw3P3PVDLA6yhKy&recipientid=contact-eebb1f918acfef118ee96045bd5d9d3d-ff51afc9eca849efa81c40b539464b75&esid=87ac449e-9c20-f011-998a-6045bd6077da

We honor another of our sisters Tiffany Thompson who recently passed away. 😢

Tiffany was a part of the TBB 2022 delegation to London, UK. She was a powerful voice in the Oregon trades community – empowering women to rise and thrive. She was a great addition to the London delegation and a big part of the Best Practices workshop.

Tiffany championed cultural awareness, equity, equality, and the radical belief in the power of being your true self. We will miss you, Tiffany.

Amy was a part of the TBB 2022 delegation to London, UK. She was a strong advocate working to help women enter union trades in the Boston, MA area as well as a great addition to the London delegation. Sharing her passion and highlighting the good work being done in the New England area, Amy worked to have people feel included and heard while advocating for women to have a space as a trade-worker. Amy will be missed.

Thank you to the Hege & Johanna for sharing the history of Fellesforbundet and its current work supporting women in construction and to all of the sisters that added to a fruitful conversation at today meet-up.

Below is the link to the recording: Passcode: 8j$kbmy4

Link to March 2025 International Tradeswomen Meet-Up Recording:

Please join us on the 1st of the 2025 International Tradeswomen meet-up – this Sunday, March 23rd.

We will have speakers from Fellesforbundet (The United Federation of Trade Unions) in Norway sharing about their history and current work.

Fellesforbundet is the largest trade union organizing the private sector in Norway, with 170 000 members – organizing employees in industry, construction, hotels and restaurants, transport, automotive and many other industries.

Registration Link for the Zoom.

Date & Time: March 23rd @ 17:00 UTC.