Workers such as Mexican-born Sebastian Martinez, pictured at a Florida jobsite in a 2006 file photo, face low wages and poor benefits as well as resentment from unemployed U.S. workers. Related Links: Bipartisan Group of Senators Outlines Plans for Immigration Reform Immigration Bill Receives Tepid Reception The Gang of Eight's Immigration Fight Federal legislation to correct an immigration system that has undermined building industry competition, skewed construction hiring practices and compromised worker safety will be front and center for House and Senate members—and lobbyists—over the next few weeks. The bill, which passed the Senate Judiciary Committee on May 21 after
Photo by Steve Hill for ENR Gilbane project executive Pamela Ward O'Malley, a 30-year industry veteran (left), shares tips with women attendees on career advancement. Photo by Steve Hill for ENR CEOs Peter Davoren of Turner Construction, Tony Mann of subcontractor E-J Electric and Bruce Fowle of architect FXFowle (from right) urged women to "stretch" into new company roles but acknowledged firm "blockers" who impede culture change. Women at all levels of construction who are looking to climb the corporate ladder shared strategies at an ENR conference on how to maximize opportunities and avoid familar obstacles.At the "Groundbreaking Women in
Photo Courtesy of Jessica Vogel Double Take Vogel takes time out to explain how a rooftop solar array operates to a university film crew doing a segment on solar power. Related Links: Main Feature: Industry Women Weigh In on the New Normal Jessica Vogel is about to oversee a project close-out meeting with first responders, a contractor and facilities personnel at a New Jersey high school where a rooftop solar array has just been installed. But there is a problem: The first responders are a no-show. Without them, the meeting becomes a get-together, and Vogel is left to make another
photos courtesy of connie crawford mentoring maestro Crawford received a Lifetime Achievement award from the Transportation Diversity Council, for whom she is board chair. Related Links: Another Warning About NYC Transit Needs Another Warning About NYC Transit Needs Another Warning About NYC Transit Needs http://enr.construction.com/infrastructure/transportation/2010/0217-nyctransitneeds.asp Did Connie Crawford, the first-ever female chief engineer at the New York City Transit Authority, ever experience blatant sexism? After all, since 1981, she has been a civil engineer who frequently used to be the only woman in a room of hundreds.Yes, she says, but she hardly noticed it. "One reason I've succeeded as I
Related Links: BLS unemployment report for April 2013 AGC economist Ken Simonson's analysis ABC economist Anirban Basu's analysis Construction’s unemployment rate continued to improve in April, falling to 13.2% from 14.7% in March. However, the industry lost 6,000 jobs last month.The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ latest monthly employment report, released on May 3, also shows that construction’s April jobless rate declined from the year-earlier level of 14.5%.But the 8,500 jobs gained in the industry's residential sector were not enough to offset losses in non-residential categories. The non-residential specialty-trade contractor segment was hit hardest, shedding 11,100 positions. Heavy-civil engineering construction lost
Photo by Keri Greenwalt The Right Track: Working for a Gilbane-HDR Engineering joint venture, Arpino-Shaffer oversees the $1.9-billion GLX subway project. Related Links: Main Feature: Industry Women Weigh In on the New Normal Green Line Extension Project (MBTA) On the first day of her first job at Perini Corp.—now Tutor Perini—in the 1970s, a male worker approached Karen Arpino-Shaffer's boss and asked, "What the hell is she doing here?""In those days, people said what they felt," Arpino-Shaffer, 54, says. Workers now are "trained not to say it, but as a woman, you can still feel" when you are not wanted,
Photo Courtesy of the Regional Hispanic Contractor's Association Ponce joins a Regional Hispanic Contractors Association gathering with union members and RHCA President John H. Martinez-D. (far right). Related Links: Main Feature: Industry Women Weigh In on the New Normal Nine years ago, Elizabeth Ponce was a secretary at a North Texas construction company. Today, she is president of her own construction company and chair of the Regional Hispanic Contractors Association.It was a roundabout path. After pursuing a degree and career in digital imaging, which didn't pan out, Ponce, 32, stuck with that first construction firm—until it closed its doors."From there,
Photo by Mick Hillier, Ironworkers' Local 25, for ENR Katrina Kudzia, a union ironworker on Detroit's $300-million Cobo Center renovation, focuses on a welding task 50 ft up in constructing the facility's signature atrium. Related Links: Main Feature: Industry Women Weigh In on the New Normal Tradeswomen Are Urged to 'Lean In' at Big California Gathering Cobo Center (Detroit) renovation project Ironworkers' Union website At 6:45 a.m. in a dingy worker break room in Detroit's massive Cobo Center, Katrina Kudzia starts her transformation into a "bad ass" union ironworker, grabbing her welder's helmet and tucking her scarf-wrapped long hair into
Photo by Nadine Post/ENR Vacca (left) spent March 27 offering advice to a future structural engineer, Lehigh University graduate student Megan A. Toumanios. Related Links: Main Feature: Industry Women Weigh In on the New Normal The Harman Group Inc. Aquinas Realty Partnership As structural engineer Jan Vacca stopped in her office to grab coats and bags before heading to a jobsite in Philadelphia, she apologized for the clutter to graduate student Megan A. Toumanios—Vacca's "shadow for a day." Clutter aside, the eye-catcher in the office that morning was the desk wall, which is papered with pithy sayings.VACCA"Angry people do not
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