The first Women Building California (and the nation ) Conference will be happening April 29-30 in Oakland, Calif.

Marriott Oakland City Center
1001 Broadway
Oakland, CA

Here’s the Schedule:
Friday April 29th, Informal pre conference gathering, Lunch, Dinner, Cocktails, laughter, bullshitting, making friends, and having fun.
…
Saturday April 30 at 8:00am – Conference
Sunday May 1 at 2:00pm – Conference

For More info: http://www.sbctc.org/

To register, download the Registration Form (.pdf) and fill out!  Then gas up your car (or take public transportation) and Go!

Consider requesting to be sponsored to go, from your Local, regional, employer, labor center, and other orgs and agency’s supporting women in the blue collar industry.

The First “Women Building The Nation Conference, at the 10th Annual Women Build California, with support of the National Building Trades Council

The goal:   1,000 women

So help get the word out!

If you need to improve your TIG welding skills, take a look at the newest of the Ron Covell’s videos, Advanced TIG Welding with Ron Covell.

Jim Watson (my boss) over at Arc-Zone tells me that he learned a trick or two from Ron Covell, and Jim himself is a master fabricator!

And for women welders, it’s even more important to stay on top of your game.  The advice I’ve gotten most often from women on how to fit in or get along on a job site or in a weld shop is to make sure you’re always improving your skill set. (actually that’s true in any career!)  And make sure you know what you’re doing.

Go ahead and take a look at the list of Tips for Women in the Welding Industry, and be sure to let me know what YOU think…

What advice would you give a woman starting out?

How do you work on improving your welding and metal fabrication skills?

Geraldine Doyle, who inadvertently served as the model for the We Can Do It campaign, passed away on December 26, 2010 in Michigan.

In 1942 at the age of 17 she had worked briefly in a factory pressing metal. It was there that she met J. Howard Miller, the graphic artist who created the We Can Do It campaign.  (I briefly looked for a photo of Geraldine Doyle, but to no avail– perhaps one will turn up in the news or on the internets in the upcoming days)

Our condolences to her family…

This iconic image is often misidentified as  Rosie the Riveter…  an illustration by Norman Rockwell for a 1943 magazine cover of the Saturday Evening Post (as shown here).

What I like about the image (actually both images) is that they show women as strong with a can-do attitude and a willingness to work hard.

UPATE:  The Washington Post has a link to the original photo taken by Miller (red polka dot bandana and all- though its in black and white), and the LA Times has a stunning photo of Geraldine Doyle as well.

Women are different than men, especially when it comes to personal
protective equipment for welding. Check out the newest additions to Revco’s line of AngelFire™ welding wear for women–  practical, sized right and stylish!

The new stick welding glove is designed exclusively for women and provides a great answer to a basic problem. Until recently, the common make-do glove solution for most women welders was to purchase men’s gloves in size small. Not only were they difficult to find, but they were typically of low quality and still failed to fit properly.

Just as practical, the new Hybrid™ welding jacket is tailored for a woman’s body so she no longer has to wear bulky men’s jackets or go without welding protection at all, neither of which are safe options.

Revco’s new LS50 women’s stick glove leverages the company’s extensive glove-making experience along with cutting-edge features from their performance BSX® line, which has become a favorite
among professional welders and hobbyists. The women’s design is embellished with a swirl decoration and includes features such as high quality genuine leathers, strategic reinforcements, Revco’s exclusive DragPatch®, and a pre-curved ergonomic construction that maximizes dexterity while helping to reduce fatigue.

The BW9C/PS Hybrid™ women’s welding jacket incorporates grain pigskin sleeves into the already popular AngelFire™ flame resistant jacket. It features adjustable waist straps to provide maximum fit, a stand-up welder’s collar, slant-opening scribe pockets, and a zippered inner pocket. Most
significantly, the grain pigskin sleeves add durability and protection where they count most. The warm chocolate brown of the FR cotton complemented by the strong black sleeves appeals to women welders everywhere.

The AngelFire™ line of women’s welding gear is available now through Arc-Zone.com. Details and information about AngelFire™ products can be found at www.angelfiregear.com.

About Revco Industries
Revco Industries, Inc., based in Santa Fe Springs, California, is a leading glove and protective apparel company with over 30 years of
service to the welding and industrial sectors. The company designs, develops, and distributes a full range of innovative protective wear
nationwide through welding supply distributors, tool and hardware retailers, and equipment rental dealers. Revco Industries markets its
products under the umbrella trade name Black Stallion®, which encompasses associated brands such as Tool Handz™, MightyMIG™,
Tigster™ and Hybrid™. More information about Revco Industries and its products can be found at www.revcoindustries.com.

Amanda Grinager has been welding for seven years, and currently works in San Diego CA for a yacht company called Marine Group Boat Works. She does structural welding, fabrication and fitting– Anything from tanks to seams, but primarily aluminum MIG/ GMAW welding.

Amanda has been part of the team at MGBW working on a government contract to build three Range Training Support Craft units, the RTSC-110.

These 114-foot US Navy vessels are multi-mission boats with the capability to launch and recover objects such as small high-speed crafts, aerial targets and test weapons. The unique fuel filtration system designed by MGBW to allow the boats to run on 100% biofuel. (you can read about these boats at the company website)

In a lot of ways Amanda really is the new Rosie, working as a welder building boats for our military. She’s proud of the job they’re doing; the boats include a unique fuel filtration system designed by MGBW. “These vessels are the first of their kind, running on bio-diesel fuel and friendly to our environment,” she said.

Amanda was always been mechanically inclined, not to mention inspired by her grandfather who was a machinist for the Union Pacific Railroad.  ”He took pride in the 50 years he was with the railroad….I am honored to be following in his footsteps,” she said.

Palomar Community College in San Marcos, California is where Amanda got her training in welding and metal fabrication, learning the basics:  safety, how to set up a machine, stick welding, MIG welding, TIG welding and flux core, not to mention how certain metals react to heat and how metal changes molecularly.  ”It was like a science class,” she said.

For Amanda, the “future of construction and consciousness of the environment will add many possibilities for skilled trades like welding.”

And these opportunities are available for women.  That’s why Amanda is interested starting up a Rosie’s Girls camp in the San Diego area.  Rosie’s Girls is a summer day camp for girls entering 6th, 7th and 8th grades.  The camp combines hands-on training in skilled trades– like welding, carpentry, automotive technology.  This not only exposes young girls to these non-traditional careers, it gives them confidence and they can engage in activities that examine the messages we receive about the role of women…  and they have a heck of a lot of fun!

Amanda admits to having experienced some discrimination, especially when she first started out. “Early on I found it difficult to find work. Larger companies wanted more experience and smaller companies did not want to risk sexual harassment. I was was discouraged, but continued to build my resume by working anywhere I could on my own time to learn as much as possible.”

And that’s the kind of attitude that Amanda would impart to her younger self:  ”Never give up, be resourceful, and know that you can do it.”  And though its been tough to get past the stereotypes, Amanda adds, “Experience and confidence are key.”

NOTE:  photo credit J. Cramer

Check out this brief video of welding student Kourtney Wills at the SkillsUSA competition:

A special shout out to Becky at Lincoln Electric for sending me this link…  she knows this is an area of special interest to me (as do all of you who read this website on a regular basis).  I’ve been doing a bit of research myself lately and was disheartened to learn that according to the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics the percentage of women working in the welding industry has actually declined– it is now LOWER than the 6% I’ve been quoting.

Anyway, check out this program geared towards getting women interested in careers in the male dominated trades– like welding!  and let me know if your workplace or school has a special outreach program. I’d love to share your stories!

Ladies Night entices female students to male-heavy careers

by Neal Morton, The Monitor

McALLEN — Elizabeth Robertson understands why manufacturing, welding or plumbing don’t exactly sound like expected career choices for women.

“Usually they’re pushed to teaching or nursing,” the 28-year-old said. “It’s typical to think of men going out and working their tools.”

A mechanical engineering student, though, Robertson embodied the evolving gender makeup of technology jobs when she attended South Texas College’s Ladies Night on Wednesday.

CONTINUE READING AT THE MONITOR–>

I recently ran across this awesome summer day camp for girls (too bad there isn’t one for adult women!) ROSIE’S GIRLS is a three week day camp for girls (6th-8th grade).  It a place to learn skills (carpentry, welding, etc) that build confidence.  PLUS they get to use power tools!  This is an awesome way to introduce girls to career options that even today don’t seem accessible to women (did you know that as of 2006 the Department of Labor counts only 6% of professional welders as women?! ***)

FACT: women can weld just as good (and sometimes better) than men. Brains, not brawn makes for an excellent welder… and check out these girls WELDING!

***HOLY SH&%$# ***  I just looked up more recent statistics (from 2008) and the percent of women employed in the welding/ metal industries has GONE DOWN!  WTF?  check it out:

Welding, soldering and brazing…  4.7% women (5.9% in 2006)

Sheet metal workers….  4.8% women (3.1% in 2006)

Pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters….  1.5%  (1.9% in 2006)

Tool and die….  1%

Structural Iron / Steel…  0.9%

You can check out these reports and many others about women in nontraditional occupations from the Department of Labor online.

And lets brainstorm!  what can WE do to make these “nontraditional” occupations “traditional?”