Women have made great gains in the workforce, but the barriers to full equality are still high.

By JANE LaTOUR

Since the Civil Rights Act of 1964 banned employment discrimination on the basis of gender, women have proved their abilities in thousands of jobs they rarely held before. Although legal barriers have crumbled, women are still largely excluded from a vast array of well-paying occupations.

Not counting flaggers, women make up less than 3 percent of the construction trades. In New York City, in a firefighting force of 11,500, there are 23 women. Even in the professions, despite stunning gains, full equality has been elusive. DC 37 attorney Audrey Browne points out that the number of women making partner at law firms has never risen above 3 percent. And the public sector, where civil service is the great equalizer, still fails to provide a completely level playing field for women seeking highly paid jobs.

The experiences of women in “nontraditional” work demonstrates that women’s place is everywhere they want to be. Part I of this series will explore the stories of some DC 37 members. Part II will examine strategies for change.

JoAnna Fleming is a woman of all trades — welding, carpentry and plumbing — at the Museum of Natural History. Bored by secretarial studies, she was interested in the money the men were making. An ad in the Amsterdam News led her to apply for the job of Assistant Maintainer. “The first time I showed up to work was scary,” she says. “I had three strikes against me: I was black, I was a woman, and I was in a man’s field.” But that was 20 years ago. Now, the Local 1559 member says, “I wouldn’t want to work anywhere else.”

The love of animals propelled Local 1501 member Kathy MacLaughlin into a career at the Bronx Zoo. When she started in 1980, there were only six women, but the workforce quickly became more diverse. “Early on, you had to prove you could handle the work,” she says. Today, as a Senior Wild Animal Keeper in “Jungle World,” she cares for tropical animals from insects to apes, hoof stock, reptiles and butterflies.

Her spirit of adventure led Local 376 member Patricia Chever to her career as a Highway Repairer. She had never done laborer’s work, but the job “sounded interesting. It was five days a week. It was outside. It was totally different and it kind of fit me.” After 10 years she says, “I love the job. I make sure I do everything to the best of my ability. It’s a good feeling — to do something that people can see and appreciate.”

In 1968, the Police Administrative Aide title was created as a male-only job. Kathleen Reilly sued the city and opened the door for women, including Lenora Gates, executive vice president of Clerical-Administrative Local 1549. Hired in 1970, she was in the second group of women to replace police officers as 911 operators. “I took it very seriously, understanding that every day was a struggle for civilianization within a male dominated agency,” she says. “It required you to be the best that you could be. People didn’t want you to succeed. I was always challenged to go the extra mile.”

Opportunities open
In the 1980s, as opportunities opened rapidly in many male dominated professions, Local 436 member Annette Brooks broke into public health. As an Epidemiologist II in the city Health Dept., she specializes in pediatric HIV. “I focus on conditions that affect women and children and people of color — my community,” she said. Ms. Brooks acknowledges her debt to the women who came before her: “All of my mentors and immediate supervisors have been female, and I’ve learned a lot from them.”

JoAnna Fleming is disappointed that more women aren’t working in the skilled trades. However, her positive experience is atypical for tradeswomen. Thirty-nine years after the passage of the Civil Rights Act, barriers still exist for women working in blue-collar, white-collar, and professional jobs. If equal employment opportunity is to become a reality rather than a goal, working women need effective strategies for change.