Our Mission

The National Taskforce on Tradeswomen’s Issues(TWTF) mission is to unite local, regional and national expertise and action to support tradeswomen and women in achieving access, opportunity, and equity in the construction industry, and other skilled trades occupations. The National Taskforce on Tradeswomen Issues does this through promoting a federal public policy platform and advocacy initiatives which includes efforts at the national level to improve, enforce, fund, and promote best practices in apprenticeship, training, workforce development, career tech, nontraditional employment, and job site equity.

Foundation of the Taskforce

In 2011, tradeswomen, allies, and advocates came together to form a coalition of organizations and individual members, including tradeswomen themselves, called The National Taskforce on Tradeswomen’s Issues, to address the lack of access, opportunity, and equity in the construction industry, and other skilled trades occupations. National women's organizations, Legal Momentum and Wider Opportunities for Women co-chaired the coalition in its inception in 2011 through 2014,then Legal Rights Advocates replaced Legal Momentum as co-chair. Chicago Women in Trades replaced Wider Opportunities for Women as co-chair in 2015. Oregon Tradeswomen replaced Legal Rights Advocates in 2016.

Key Actions and Successes of The Taskforce

Since its inception, the Taskforce has succeeded in organizing and building collaborations and raising the issue of equal opportunity in construction on a national level.

• 2011: Taskforce meetings with the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) resulted in the hiring of a staff member who specifically oversees changes to the OFCCP mega-site initiative, field investigator training and changes in the way tradeswomen and non-profits can lodge complaints.
• 2012:  After funding for the Women in Apprenticeship and Non-Traditional Occupations (WANTO) Act was cut, Taskforce members and tradeswomen met with the Department of Labor and the White House Council on Women and Girls.  Not only did we succeed in getting WANTO funding restored, but the new two-year Solicitation for Grant Proposals (SGA) focused on collaboration and technical assistance.  Taskforce members won all three technical assistance grants awarded.
• 2013: The Taskforce held a national roundtable on apprenticeship at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers in Washington D.C. attended by tradeswomen, Building Trades representatives, U.S. Department of Labor Representatives as well as representatives from National Civil Rights and Workforce Development Organizations.  The Office of Apprenticeship then asked the Taskforce to repeat the panel for the Secretary of Labor’s Advisory Council on Apprenticeship.
• 2014: The Taskforce, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and the Building and Construction Trades Department of the AFL-CIO began their collaboration for Equal Opportunity in Construction with a letter to the Secretary of Labor which had strong repercussions throughout Washington DC. Tradeswomen voices were represented by the Taskforce at the White House Summit on Working Families and Tradeswomen Tuesday was started by Taskforce member Legal Momentum to collect tradeswomen stories.
• 2015: The Taskforce hosted the first ACTION CLINIC at the Women Building the Nation conference which provided training in grassroots advocacy for tradeswomen. The Taskforce advocated for the release of the U.S. Department of Labor Equal Employment Opportunity / Affirmative Action apprenticeship regulations to be revised and released for public comment.  Provided recommendations to improve Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Section 3 Local Hire policies to increase access for women.  Provided recommendations to strengthen sex discrimination regulations in the U.S. Department of Labor compliance.
• 2016: The Taskforce won another victory in ensuring that WANTO (Women in Apprenticeship and Non-traditional Occupations) was refunded by Congress to continue to support equity, access, and opportunity for women in high-skilled, high-wage blue-collar jobs! Through our grassroots advocacy and education, the Taskforce promoted strong and comprehensive recommendations to update the Equal Employment Opportunity regulations in Registered Apprenticeship, many of which the U.S. DOL incorporated in their final updates. The Taskforce encouraged programs and social media activities for the November 17 National Women in Apprenticeship Day. Between 2014 and 2016 over 90 Tradeswomen stories were collected by Legal Momentum, Equal Rights Advocates, and the Taskforce and are available on the Taskforce Blog.
• 2017: The Taskforce and over 200 tradeswomen submitted comments to update the apprenticeship Equal Employment regulations which became effective January 18, 2017. Chicago Women in Trades and partners were awarded a Gender Equity Contract from the Department of Labor to increase the participation of women in apprenticeship through the creation of the National Center for Women’s Equity in Apprenticeship and Employment.
• 2018: Policy Platform completed. For the first time, a research sub-group was created. A Research Caucus and Research Workshop were held at the 2018 WBN Conference. New research topics and challenges were discussed and four studies of relevance to women in the trades were presented.
• 2019: Tradeswoman Vicki O’Leary wins the 2019 ENR Award of Excellence. Vicki helped draft and implement The Ironworkers Union first of its kind maternity program and helped roll out a new anti-bullying and harassment program. Read more: April/May issue of The Ironworker. The TWTF was heavily involved in bills impacting equity and access in the trades; Emma Brennan, WANTO Project Manager at AFL-CIO in Washington, D.C. (and former Oregon Tradeswomen staffer!) served on a panel in Congress on creating equity, opportunity, and access through the Infrastructure bill.

Want To Join Us?

We are looking to grow and engage more tradeswomen, allies, advocates, and industry partners! To learn more, email us at [email protected]. We recommend you consider joining one of our committees below:

• The TWTF Monthly Membership Meeting is held the third Monday of every other month, times alternate between 3 pm Eastern/Noon Pacific and 6 pm Eastern/3 Pacific. To join the TWTF, please email us at [email protected] and we will send you the conference call information. If you are interested in volunteering for one of the active work committees below, please contact one of the co-chairs as listed below.
• TWTF Policy Committee meets monthly via conference call. To join the committee, please contact Co-chairs Jessica Stender at [email protected] or Meg Vasey at [email protected].
• TWTF Communications Committee meets monthly via conference call. To join the committee, please contact Co-Chair Jessenia Rivera at [email protected].
• TWTF Tradeswomen Action Committee meets monthly via conference call. To join the committee, please contact Co-chair Kelly McCellen at [email protected].