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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (May 25, 2016)
Remembering Vanport Weekend Mosaic Festival begins with proclamation QR code for Portland Observer Online See Local News, page 3 Police Chief Investigated Accused of cover-up in accidental shooting See story, page 2 ‘City of Roses’ Volume XLV Number 21 www.portlandobserver.com Wednesday • May 25, 2016 Established in 1970 Committed to Cultural Diversity Photos by d awn J ones R edstone Makeda Hubert, a pre-apprenticeship student doing carpentry work (left) and Lori Baumann, an apprentice laborer working on a bridge. A new effort between the state of Oregon and the support group Oregon Tradeswomen will attempt to bring more diversity to construction work by increasing apprenticeship retention rates of women and people of color. Gender Barriers Hold True State teams up with tradeswomen to ight job site duress by C eRvante P oPe t he P oRtland o bseRveR Despite how far Oregon and the country has progressed against outdated and dis- criminatory traditions impacting gender and racial minorities, studies show both groups still experience inequality in the workplace, especially so in the white and male dominat- ed construction trades where taunts against women and minorities still hold true. “My, they would say a lot of nasty things. They’re just too nasty to really repeat,” not- ed Cindy, a participant in a recent Oregon study on gender and minority discrimina- tion in trades work. She said the inappropriate remarks from male coworkers, and at times superiors, co- alesce with other stereotypes to keep wom- en like her away from the same jobs men hold. Inequality has long been the norm in the pay female workers earn in all professions, according to national studies that show women earn 79 cents to every dollar men make for the same work. But in the trades, it’s often issues of sexual harassment and bigoted opinions on race and gender that re- main major obstacles to progress. A study conducted by Portland State University and commissioned by the Ore- gon Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) and the Oregon Depart of Transportation (ODOT), revealed that women and people of color were less likely to inish their high- way construction apprenticeships, partly due to discrimination and unfair treatment. Only 32 percent of men of color, 26 percent of white women and 19 percent of women of color actually end up complet- ing job site training programs, called ap- prenticeships, the 2014 report found. White males had a completion rate of 41 percent. Ben, a black male that participated in the study, described what was typical for him to see on the job. “A lot of the times in construction the C ontinued on P age 4