United Tradeswomen: Organizing for the Guaranteed Right to Work in Any Job

Abstract

In 1979, a group of smart, strong-willed women, fiercely independent, but recognizing the need for collective action, forged a new organization in New York City, United Tradeswomen (UT). White and black, Hispanic and Asian, UT was also occupationally diverse: Entenmann bakery truck drivers, bridge painters, utility workers, firefighters, and hundreds of skilled trades’ apprentices. It was a group that saw its mission as providing support and advocacy for blue-collar pioneers. For six years, UT touched the lives of most of the women entering the blue-collar, male-dominated jobs in New York City.