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| Sisters in the Brotherhood | |
|---|---|
| Name | Sisters in the Brotherhood |
| Formation | 1970s |
| Type | Labor organization |
| Headquarters | United States |
| Region served | North America |
| Membership | Women construction tradesworkers |
Sisters in the Brotherhood is a movement and network advocating for women in unionized construction trades and building trades professions. It emerged amid broader labor and civil rights struggles, aligning with unions, advocacy groups, and political actors to increase representation, address harassment, and secure equal pay and apprenticeship access. The initiative intersects with national unions, local trades councils, federal agencies, and community organizations to advance workplace equity and safety.
The movement traces roots to influences including the Civil Rights Movement, Women's Liberation Movement, AFL–CIO, Congress of Industrial Organizations, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Early organizing echoed the efforts of activists linked to National Organization for Women, United Auto Workers, Service Employees International Union, Teamsters, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, and United Steelworkers. Legislative and policy contexts involved statutes and initiatives from the National Labor Relations Act, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Affirmative Action, and executive actions in administrations such as Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton. The movement engaged with community groups like NAACP, ACLU, and faith-based organizations and drew inspiration from campaigns associated with Dolores Huerta, Cesar Chavez, Coretta Scott King, and local trade councils.
Membership typically comprises journeypersons, apprentices, and trade educators affiliated with unions such as the Laborers' International Union of North America, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers, United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters, Sheet Metal Workers' International Association, and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. Members often work in construction sites influenced by contractors like Bechtel Corporation, Kiewit Corporation, Fluor Corporation, and public employers including United States Department of Transportation, Department of Energy, and municipal authorities in cities like New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Seattle. Demographic profiles intersect with organizations such as Latina Coalition, Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, National Urban League, Young Women's Christian Association, and academic studies by Harvard University, University of California, Berkeley, Columbia University, and Cornell University.
Participants have served as apprentices, journeymen, union organizers, safety officers, and instructors in trade schools like State University of New York, City College of New York, University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign, and Georgia Institute of Technology. They influenced collective bargaining negotiations with employers including Turner Construction Company, Skanska, Jacobs Engineering Group, and public authorities like Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. The network collaborated with advocacy and legal organizations such as National Women's Law Center, Legal Aid Society, Equal Justice Initiative, and think tanks including Brookings Institution and Economic Policy Institute to shape apprenticeship standards, prevailing wage policy, and anti-discrimination enforcement involving agencies like the Department of Labor and Federal Court decisions.
Members confronted structural barriers evident in workplace disputes referencing practices regulated by bodies such as the National Labor Relations Board, complaints filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, litigation in the United States Court of Appeals, and policy debates in Congress involving representatives connected to committees chaired by figures like Nancy Pelosi and Bernie Sanders. Incidents involved harassment cases, hostile work environment claims, and systemic exclusion tied to subcontracting patterns with firms like AECOM and Bechtel, and municipal contracting overseen by officials in administrations including Michael Bloomberg and Rahm Emanuel. Research from institutions such as Rutgers University, Johns Hopkins University, and University of Michigan documented retention issues, while advocacy responses involved groups like National Partnership for Women & Families and Center for American Progress.
Organizing strategies incorporated collective actions, apprenticeship drives, and legislative campaigns coordinated with the AFL–CIO Building and Construction Trades Department, National Council of La Raza, Jobs with Justice, Women's Bureau (Department of Labor), and municipal agencies such as the Seattle Office of Labor Standards. Campaigns targeted procurement policies, minority- and women-owned business enterprise goals, and compliance monitored by entities like the Department of Housing and Urban Development and Federal Transit Administration. Alliances formed with labor educators from MIT, public interest law clinics at Yale Law School and Harvard Law School, and community partners including ACLU, Sisters of Mercy, and local clergy networks to support training, legal representation, and legislative testimony in state legislatures and city councils across California, New York (state), Illinois, and Washington (state).
Key individuals and milestones include activists and union leaders who worked alongside national figures such as Linda Chavez-Thompson, Maria Elena Durazo, Ai-jen Poo, Randi Weingarten, and local leaders tied to union locals in Newark, New Jersey, Boston, Detroit, and Baltimore. High-profile actions ranged from courthouse litigation, EEOC complaints, strike participations involving unions like International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 3, and public hearings before congressional committees including the House Committee on Education and Labor and the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Events involved partnerships during major infrastructure projects such as rebuilding after Hurricane Katrina, transit expansions like projects funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, and advocacy linked to municipal bonding initiatives and airport expansions in locales such as LaGuardia Airport and O'Hare International Airport.
Category:Labor movements Category:Women in construction