Move over Joe Plumber, Tradeswomen Speak for Themselves

Joe the plumber, move over. Theresa the plumber, Yvette the electrician, and Beth the carpenter say you don’t represent the nation or the middle class and you most definitely don’t speak for them.
 
Theresa Hughes, Yvette Goods, and Beth Barton said Joe’s turn has gone on long enough. Now they want the candidates to address their concerns. All three women said access to reliable child care is essential for letting women pursue good paying jobs. All three women pointed to the growing specter of unemployment as a critical issue. “My husband has been laid-off for months. I’m working at [a project at] St. John’s, but I’ll probably be laid-off soon,” Barton said. A member of Carpenters’ Local 1596, Barton works for McCarthy Building Companies.
 

Women construction workers said Joe the plumber doesn’t speak for them. From left to right: Yvette Goods, Theresa Hughes, Beth Barton.

Hughes, the plumber, is a member of Plumbers’ and Pipefitters’ Local 562. Plumbing is her second career. She worked in the printing industry for 20 years until the print shop that employed her went out of business and only then joined the plumbers’ apprenticeship program.
 
Goods, the electrician, is a member if IBEW Local 1 and has been for 25 years. Goods suggested some steps she would like to see any future administration take to reduce unemployment and poverty. “People need secure incomes, not minimum wage,” she said, and the government needs to put people back to work repairing the nation’s “neglected infrastructure” to make it safe and functional.
 
The three women spoke at a press conference organized by Missouri Women in the Trades, a support group for women construction workers that also works to recruit more women into construction. Since its founding in 2006, the group has worked with the Girl Scouts and held a summer camp to encourage girls to think of careers in construction.

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