Women Building California Conference 2010
Organized Labor
Vivian Price, Labor Studies Professor, Domingues Hills CSU, former Electrician
A political activist and union organizer, Price worked on assembly lines in electronics, auto, and pharmaceuticals. After being laid off for organizing, she decided she wanted a skill that would give her job security, so she became an electrician. She is presently collecting material for a digital history of tradeswomen. For information or to donate material, visit the project's website, www.tradeswomenarchives.com.
When I was an electrician, one of the male electricians said to me that women have made the trade better for men. A lot of the men were embarrassed to say, “We want toilet paper in the bathroom. We want to be able to wash our hands after we use the bathroom.” And women spoke up about those things and it made it better for everybody.
A lot more men were open to women in the trades, but now that the times are rough, I think they're trying to chase us out. We need fairness in employment to makes it better for everybody. I'm afraid the economic downturn will bring out prejudice because of survival.