Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current, April 07, 2017, Image 10

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Northwest labor press., April 07, 2017, Page 10, Image 10

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Newspaper Page TextPAGE 10 | April 7, 2017 | NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS Paid maternity leave for Iron Workers New policy aimed at bringing more women into construction industry Contractors signatory to Iron Workers union locals will start providing paid maternity leave for women in their trade. The announcement was made last month at the Ironworker Man- agement Progressive Action Co- operative Trust (IMPACT) con- ference in San Diego. “We are very proud to be the first to introduce a paid mater- nity program in the building trades,” said Iron Workers Gen- eral President Eric Dean. “It’s about time we make our indus- try a level playing field for women and make diversity and inclusion a priority.” The Iron Workers’ paid ma- ternity leave includes 6 months of pre-delivery maximum bene- fit and 6 to 8 weeks of post-de- livery benefit. Regardless of what was covered pre-delivery, the ironworker member will be eligible for up to six weeks of paid leave after the birth of the child and two additional weeks for Cesarean deliveries. “I’m extremely excited about this policy and I think it’s going to help with retention of iron- worker women and encourage them to build a career,” said Vicki O’Leary, an Ironworker representative who made the an- nouncement during a panel dis- cussion at the IMPACT confer- ence that focused on the role of women ironworkers. “It’s one more step in achiev- ing greater diversity in our trade,” she said. Bill Brown, CEO of Ben Hur Construction Co. and co-chair of IMPACT, said when the group first started talking about maternity leave, he wasn’t sure how they would pull it off and what it would cost. “We are very proud to be the first to introduce a paid maternity program in the building trades.” — Iron Workers General President Eric Dean “But we realized that it’s an investment because we want our well-trained ironworker women to come back to work,” he said, It is a laudable move consid- ering that the U.S. lags behind its European counterparts when it comes to paid maternity leave, and most industries in the coun- try do not offer adequate paid maternity leave. “It’s a relief to know that fe- male ironworkers don’t have to choose between work and fam- ily anymore,” said Blue Coble an ironworker from Local 75 in Phoenix, Arizona. IMPACT is a labor-manage- ment partnership that provides a forum for union Ironworkers and signatory contractors to ad- dress issues of mutual concern. The Iron Workers Union rep- resents 130,000 workers in North America employed in construction on bridges; struc- tural steel; ornamental, architec- tural, and miscellaneous metals; rebar; and in shops. In Oregon, union ironworkers are represented by Portland Lo- cal 29 and Iron Workers Shop- men’s Local 516. THIS NEWSPAPER BROUGHT TO YOU BY AMERICA'S LABOR MOVEMENT. SHOP LOCAL. AND BUY UNION AND AMERICAN-MADE.