This paper examines barriers to women's participation in the construction trades using a case study of a carpentry apprenticeship program. It finds that women, though they continue to face obstacles to working in the trade, remain determined to participate. It also suggests that though external efforts to open the trade to women have met with resistance, attempts to upgrade apprenticeship training and attract qualified applicants may inadvertently help ease the way for women to enter the trade. The paper concludes with speculation about the value to the union of welcoming qualified and determined women apprentices.
60 women and 60 men between the ages of 18 and 45 years (M = 30.5, SD = 9.6) were categorized by sex, age, and birth order (only child, firstborn, lastborn) to assess the differences among the adult only-child, the youngest child, and the oldest child in autonomous characteristics and cohesiveness in family interaction. Analysis of the responses on a biographical data sheet, the California Psychological Inventory, and the Family Adaptability Cohesion Scales III showed that main effects for birth order and sex are significant in the process of separation-individuation and that the only child is less autonomous than the oldest child.
Confronted with the technological changes and corporate restructuring that is eroding job security for all workers, the once booming economy of Silicon Valley is now undergoing severe growing pains. Moreover, the much vaunted information technology industry is producing a dual economy of high‐wage and low‐wage jobs. Now, with the bursting of the dot.com industry, workers in all sectors are confronting layoffs and lower expectations. In both boom and bust periods, the South Bay American Federation of Labor‐Congress of Industrial Organizations Labor Council has made a tremendous turnaround, made has innovative responses to the “new economy,” and has expanded its capacity to take on issues important to workers and unions. The article offers a detailed account of the labor council's program and explores the environmental and historical context surrounding the revitalization of organized labor in the region. Our findings in San Jose suggest that central labor councils are successful in advancing the needs of workers and labor movement. Today, this experience offers a model for the three‐pronged approach to grassroots movement building: (1) policy research and advocacy, (2) community coalition building, (3) and an aggressive political program that keeps politicians responsive to the needs of workers.
In order to survive and prosper today, both labor councils and labor education centers need to rethink their mission, goals, and strategies. In this report, we examine how partnerships between these two types of organizations have fostered creative transformation for both. We examine the innovative relationships between labor education programs and their respective labor councils and state federations in five states (Oregon, Washington, Massachusetts, Iowa, and West Virginia). These cases include those with long-standing strong relationships and those that have been recently rebuilt or rethought. In several cases, the labor education centers owe their very existence to the work of state labor leaders to who helped found them and, more recently, to maintain and expand their resources. In addition, we document the role played by the UCLA labor education program in revitalizing the Orange County AFL-CIO, as well as two key partnership programs of Cornell and the AFL-CIO in New York: the Union Leadership Institute and the New York City Capacity Building Initiative.
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