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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 11, 1979)
- 0 S^» ^OUji -»V-yV- ST> “DVajiT^S ”>'^0. -0-^6 _VS^V>J S-^Lj.-^VyV'O O^VAAOrA "Z-^S .O^V-^V-* «5kA- ^-^-^.1— -5r'~V-V*-» ZE r They’re in it for the pay, working outside r/c/^c^ +M a^«3 <» Women breaking ground in construction By RHONDA WATTERS Battalion Reporter Ask Tommy what his mother does at her job and his eyes will light up as he says, “My mommy drives a big tractor.” Actually, what Tommy’s mother drives is even bigger than a tractor-it’s a 651 road scraper, one of the largest pieces of road con struction machinery. Tommy’s mother is one of the increasing number of women who are working in the field of construction. Construction is no longer a pre dominantly male world. As stereotypes fade, women venture out into many new fields. And more and more women, both young and old, are entering the construction business. Some are in it temporar ily to make money, but many are pursuing construction as a career. Bud Smith is a foreman for Young Brothers Construction. Smith has a crew of 20 workers, six are women. Five women work full time, about 52 Vi hours a week, and one works part-time, several afternoons a week. “This is the first time I’ve worked women,” Smith said. “I’m having really good luck with them.” Smith said he can’t see any dif ference in the work done by the women compared to the work of the men. In fact, he said, he has one woman who has worked for him for nine months who does bet ter than some of his men. “The only problem I’d say that I have is that the guys kind of like to stand around and talk to the women more than they would to other guys.” Debbie Wolfe, married and the mother of a 2-year-old son, is one of Smith’s female workers. She has chosen construction as a career and works full time. Although she can drive all the machinery, she mostly operates what is called a scraper, which takes a good deal of skill to maneuver correctly. “I don’t like working inside,” Wolfe said, “and I like working machinery. My father worked con struction for a couple years, so I’ve been around it for a while.” Like Wolfe, many women said one of the main reasons they liked construction was because the work was outside. They had tried “inside jobs” and found them unsatisfying. Another reason they enjoy con struction is because of the amount of learning involved. “I learn something every day,” Wolfe said. “I’ve learned from CMO on a 10 scale so far.” Jackie Berkley, one of Wolfe’s co-workers, agreed and said another advantage was being able to work at one’s own pace. “You work by yourself and just do your job,” Berkley said. “You’re not really rushed.” Berkley said she plans on stay ing in construction for a while be cause the more she learns, the more money she can make and an experienced construction worker can get a job almost anywhere. One definite advantage the women mentioned again and again is the high pay scale. Sherry Gloyna, has worked con struction for about three years. Gloyna said she quit school and got married at a young age. Later, after three children and a divorce, she wanted to go into nursing, but found the pay wasn’t enough to support her family. “The pay is what got me into it,” she said. “That and the fact that I don’t like to work inside.” Now, she works 10-hour days for the same company her present husband works for. Gloyna said she opertates a 651 scraper and is working up to a blade (the top of the line for construction workers), which is what her husband drives. Gloyna said she will probably stay with construction because she enjoys it. “When I quit,” she said, “I’ll probably stay home with the chil dren.” Betty Wilborn, one of Smith’s workers and the grandmother of two children, also enjoys the money she earns in construction. “I really like the money because I can live like I want to live,” she said. For all the benefits of working construction, many of the women admitted it took some getting used to. Gloyna said the hardest thing to get used to was the weather. Al though the summers can be hot, she said, the winter cold is worse. The weather was one reason she’s trying to work up to a blade, she said, because blades have heated booths for the operator to sit in. Teresa Wolfe, another of Smith’s workers, said one thing she had to get used to was the long and physically hard work. “The first two days I was tired,” she said. “I also had a headache from the noise.” Phillips said she got used to it quickly and although some days are harder than others, she doesn’t get as tired anymore and the noise no longer bothers her. Another disadvantage to work ing construction is the dirt. But that didn’t seem to bother any of the women workers. “Soap and water will clean any thing,” Phillips said with a laugh. “You’ve got to take a bath any way.” Although many people think women construction workers have problems getting respect for the job they can do from their male co workers, the women said this wasn’t true. “The men will stop and help you,” Marcia Toplin, one of Smith’s workers said. “They’re really good about it.” Debbie Timmons, a physical therapy student here who works for H.B. Zachry at the Kyle Field site, said when she first started working, she didn’t worry about the men’s attitudes. “I took the attitude that I went out to do my job and if they didn’t like it, well, they weren’t paying my way,” she said. Timmons said she didn’t have problems with male co-workers al though she gets the usual harass ment “like ‘What are you doing later?’, but I take their kidding and it doesn’t bother me." As for the men, many said the women did a good job, although it varied with individual women. Some of the men said at times they are surprised at some of the things the women could do. Another area that would seem to be a problem for women construc tion workers is the opinions of hus bands, boyfriends, family and friends. But many women said this wasn’t a problem either. “My mother had a fit at first,” Gloyna said. “But now she wants pictures!” “My husband is very proud of me,” Wolfe said. And many of the women said their husbands and boyfriends felt the same way. Wolfe said her husband knows a lot about construction and is in Lucy Schell is one of many women who are breaking a stereotype and Photo by Sam Stroder becoming construction workers. She is working on Kyle Field. terested in what she does. For women interested in con struction, there is a heavy equip ment school run by the Texas En gineering and Extension Service that is free. Anyone can attend the school that for training in the opera tion and maintenance of construc tion machinery. After completing the 8-week course a placement of ficer helps the graduates find jobs. George Berry, an instructor at the school, said there are women in almost every class. “Basically they adapt well,” he said. “It’s a little different than they are used to.” The Brazos Valley Comprehen sive Employment and Training Act (CETA), an agency that helps provide employment training to qualified applicants, has spon sored one class of five women through the heavy equipment school. THIS HALLOWEEN DO YOU WANT TO GO AS BIG AS A PUMPKIN OR AS SLIM AS A CUCUMBER WE CAN HELP!!! .AT THE 779-6124 You can lose 17-25 pounds in just 6 weeks!