By Mark Brett, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
The welding industry is another of the last bastions of male-worker dominance now falling by the wayside.The National Women of Steel training program is currently wrapping up in colleges across the country in the pilot project designed to encourage women and the non-binary to consider a career in the welding industry.
The Penticton campus of Okanagan College was one of the 14 locations in Canada where the tuition-free, three-month course was offered.
91裸聊视频滻 am totally on board with helping women get into this trade and helping them get the skills to improve their lives. This provides some women with a little more comfort when they91裸聊视频檙e learning a trade,91裸聊视频� said first- year instructor and career welder Kate Scorah of Kelowna. 91裸聊视频淚t depends who you are, some of the girls are quite comfortable just being one of the boys. They laugh at fart jokes and play with the best of them. Some of the girls are a little bit more gentle with their approach.91裸聊视频�
She does offer her students some tips about how to deal with their male co-workers, just to be on the safe side.
91裸聊视频漎ou do need to have a little bit of a tough skin and let things slide off your back,91裸聊视频� said Scorah, adding that women do have to 91裸聊视频減rove91裸聊视频� themselves a bit more.91裸聊视频淒on91裸聊视频檛 take what the boys say too seriously. Let your work speak for you.91裸聊视频�
Karina McGuire was one of 15 people who signed up for the program last spring.
91裸聊视频滻 saw this ad and it literally jumped out at me as an opportunity I can91裸聊视频檛 miss because it is specifically targeted to women and LGBTQ who are trying to get out there,91裸聊视频� said McGuire. 91裸聊视频淚 think the team (class) works a little bit better because of that. We are able to lean on each other.91裸聊视频�
Fellow student Hannah Shore agreed, 91裸聊视频淚 think for most people there91裸聊视频檚 competition, but instead of putting each other down we work together and improve each other which is really important when you are learning.91裸聊视频�
Somebody especially on board with Women of Steel is Daniel Malo, director of operations for the Penticton Peerless manufacturing company which employs almost 40 welders, three of them female.91裸聊视频漈he women are just as good as the men and are actually a little bit better in what I would call the fine tuning, the more precise work,91裸聊视频� said Malo, who started out with Peerless91裸聊视频� parent company as a welder in 1998. 91裸聊视频淪o to have these students and this program is a win and perfect for our business.
91裸聊视频滻t91裸聊视频檚 a tough job. It91裸聊视频檚 a dirty job and we don91裸聊视频檛 have anything special for the women welders. It91裸聊视频檚 all the same pool, they do the same job as the men.91裸聊视频滻t is also a fun job. You build stuff, you see some progress and you get a sense of accomplishment and at the end of the day you get the reward of doing well.91裸聊视频漃eerless designs and builds specialized trailers for a variety of heavy duty industries.
Meanwhile, when Donna Falck signed up for the course she wasn91裸聊视频檛 exactly looking for a new career having worked for many years in the restaurant business. What she was looking for was a way to put some spark back in her life.
91裸聊视频漌hen I got to 65, I just became very sedentary, my body ached and I had to do something and so now this course has actually changed my life,91裸聊视频� said Falck who got the nickname Sparky because she enjoyed watching her dad weld so much.
91裸聊视频淣ow Donna91裸聊视频檚 got her groove back. It91裸聊视频檚 given me hope and inspiration. Now I can weld steel and it91裸聊视频檚 put the spark back in my eye and my heart.91裸聊视频漈he Women of Steel, Forging Forward Program, is supported by CWB Welding Foundation, a national charity whose goal is to reduce barriers impacting key groups including women and those classed as under-represented through education-based initiatives.In addition to learning welding skills, Women of Steel students have opportunities that foster education, personal growth and confidence.
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