Sisters in the Brotherhood

Local 1907 Sister Kelley Jeong received a $1000 scholarship at the Build TogetHER Annual General Meeting on Saturday, January 26. Applicants submitted essays about their union activities, volunteerism, and what they are doing to advance women in the trades. The scholarship was donated kindly by the Sheet Metal Local 280. Congratulations Kelley!
Moreover, the carpenter apprentice and Sisters in the Brotherhood member is interviewed in an article on the ITA BC website.

Sisters Kelley Jeong and Kristine Byers marched alongside over 1,000 participants at the 2019 March on Vancouver on Saturday, January 19, 2019. The march first began two years ago in response to Donald Trump’s inauguration. This year people marched not only in support of their southern sisters, but also in reflection of the struggles we continue to face here in Canada.

“Speakers opened the rally by discussing intersectional issues ranging from the environment to Indigenous rights to violence against women of different backgrounds and abilities. An hour later, the march’s more than 1,000 attendees poured into the streets of downtown Vancouver. Ahead of the sea of people, the Daughters of the Drum – a Vancouver-based collective of primarily Aboriginal women drummers, singers and musicians – led the way toward Robson Square Law Courts.” (From this article by The Ubyssey, where you can read the full story: https://www.ubyssey.ca/news/women-march-2019/?fbclid=IwAR0pvurwXB9kbByQgheoPxldtV_pTkNfp858RQWjqQCnnc4EJmmNVSfxlYs).
  

Some female Local 1598 and Local 1907 members, along with other women from various sectors of the trades in British Columbia, went to Seattle on October 12 to attend the 2018 Women Build Nations Conference. After the event, Local 1907 member and chair of the B.C. chapter of Sisters in the Brotherhood, Julie Sawatsky, wrote the BCRCC a very kind and thoughtful thank-you letter, which also describes the event:

Last week I had the honour of attending the Women Build Nations Conference in Seattle, Washington, with five of my sisters. The support you have shown our Sisters in the Brotherhood Committee has been fantastic. We all boarded the Building Trades bus and our journey began! This year there were over 2200 attendees from every trade worldwide. I’m proud to say that B.C. alone tripled last year’s number of Canadian carpenters participating.

Along with several members from the BC Building Trades – Build Together, I presented a workshop entitled ‘Building a Movement.’ Our message was to highlight our achievements and demonstrate how starting a women’s committee and getting involved in our communities, unions, and government can create more women leaders. This is the next step after recruiting; as the focus of many of the plenary talks was retention and moving up. Furthermore, there was a recognition of the pioneers and the next-generation apprentices.

Without your solid commitment to the sisters, we would not be where we are, rising up, and throwing down the ladder for the next ones behind us. Please accept my sincere gratitude for the Council’s support and respect shown to all the Sisters in the Brotherhood.

Respectfully,

Julie Sawatsky

Sisters in the Brotherhood, BC Chair

B.C. Sisters in the Brotherhood contingent at the 2018 Women Build Nations Conference in Seattle, October 2018.

Local 1907 members Kristine Byers and Kelley Jeong, and Mark Derton, BCRCC President, were in attendance for an Evening with Theresa King on October 16, 2018. Theresa shared her journey on becoming the first woman president of the Florida Building and Construction Trades. Thank you to Build Together, IUOE Local 115, IBEW 213, and BC Building Trades for hosting this event.