Women Have Come a Long Way in Building and Construction Industry
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In 1979, Beth Szillagyi, an honor roll college student, was desperate to find a job. Even with her Illinois Army National Guard education benefits, the burden of college costs and keeping a roof over her head and food on the table were too much.
After months of searching and time in lousy sales job, she says, “I saw ‘my’ job” in the want ads of the local newspaper.
“I don’t know how I knew it was my job, I just knew it. ‘Local 84 is taking applications for the apprenticeship. Women and minorities encouraged to apply.’”
Today, the member of Sheet Metal Workers (SMWIA) Local 218 in Springfield is not only a 30-year veteran of the building trades, but an author. Her book, Hey, Lady! Your Tin Snips Are Showing!, is a fictional account of one woman’s journey through the construction trades, starting in the less-than-enlightened late 1970s, when a woman in a hard hat working in a traditional “man’s job” was not only a rare sight, but one that could stir anger and resentment.
