I’m all for women getting into a trade and especially plumbing because they are adaptable, trainable and great problem solvers. They are reliable and committed to getting the job done. They may be slower than their male-counterparts but they are more thorough.
On the flip side though, Am I against women getting into plumbing? Yes and no. It’s not because I don’t want them there, but women are very emotional beings and this environment can be brutal and harsh at the best of times. There is a huge lack of respect for women in a man’s world. Pornography, sexist comments even harassment are part of the workplace – including TAFE, no matter if the company plays by the policy ‘equal opportunity’. Can this ever be stamped out? I’m not sure. Possibly the more women that enter a trade, the more support they have to be able to cope with the criticism. Hopefully there will come a time where a female plumber will be the norm.
I believe there will be a stage where every plumbing firm will need to employ a female plumber. Why? Australia has the highest standard in the world for its safety regulations. I predict that there will be a time where only female plumbers can work in female toilets. Sound ridiculous?? Yes, but incredibly the world is changing and some of the practices that we have in place today would sound ridiculous to businesses 50 years ago.
I have often heard arguments about how women can’t cope with lifting heavy equipment or pipes. I have never seen one of my plumbers carry heavy equipment by himself. He has ALWAYS had a colleague to help him so I don’t see how this argument can be of any substance.
The next argument is that they are the weaker sex. True. But over time skills and strength are developed. I’ve never seen a 15 year old male apprentice turn into Mr Muscle’s the plumber over night.
Another benefit of having women plumbers is for the company itself, what I mean by this is mostly our experience with young males and the pressures from their piers we seem to deal with their bad decision making over weekends especially, eg.
* Taking drugs and go mental on a construction site
* Come to work hung-over from an all night booze up
* Consistently ask for their holiday pay or sick pay to pay overdue rent, bail to get them out of jail, or pay other overdue bills or speeding fines
* Lost their license from speeding fines while driving on a restricted license. But not every one of our male apprentices get involved in the above situations, surprisingly, I have had conversations with other plumbing firm manager’s that have experienced the same behaviour from their own male apprentices.
Most female apprentices tend to be a bit older – more mature and less likely to get involved in activities that could cost them their apprenticeship. They are more eager than male apprentices to get a job in construction because they know how HARD it is to get employed, and yet they don’t quit. That’s the kind of employee I want in my company. I don’t want quitters.
My encouragement to all construction firms and plumbers is this – employ a female apprentice. October/November is the time for resumes and job applications to be sent in for apprenticeships in the New Year. If you are a manager of a company and receive an enquiry from a female – don’t disregard them. Sit down with them and find out why they have a passion to do a trade. It’s important to train and support your female apprentices – they don’t need you to hold their hand but they certainly need you to back them when they are working for your company.