'We all belong here'

When Unite rep Sarah Guyon returned to work after giving birth to one of her children, she’d expected – as anyone would – the support and congratulations of her colleagues.

But on a male-dominated construction site, women like Sarah are still met with attitudes you’d think we’d eradicated decades ago.

“Some of the men told me I should be at home with my children, what am I doing in work,” Sarah recounted. “They’d say things like ‘You don’t belong here’ and ‘You should be working in the canteen with the other women’.”

In workplaces across different sectors women are fighting similar battles – for appropriate workwear, for toilet facilities, for equal pay, or merely for the simple dignity of being taken seriously — but in construction, the scale of these problems is often on another level.

That’s why Unite is redoubling its efforts to bring its women members in construction together to fight for fundamental change.

On Thursday, June 4, Unite is convening a special online meeting for all women members in construction. It’s among the first in a series of meetings, both online and in person, to connect women in the sector so they can learn from each other’s struggles and successes.

A case in point is the trailblazing achievements secured by women at the nuclear power site Hinkley Point C (HPC), Sarah’s workplace. Most recently, HPC and Unite signed a women’s workwear charter in April. It commits HPC and all its Tier 1 contractors to abide by the charter, which covers not only Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) but all workwear.

The charter requires employers who’ve signed up to ensure “all women are provided with safe, suitable, properly fitted and dignified workwear across all roles and sectors. This includes PPE, RPE, scrubs, uniforms and all task-specific clothing across construction, transport, catering, cleaning, administration and all site-based roles”.

It is believed that the charter is the most comprehensive out of any similar workplace policy in the UK.

Sarah, who now serves as Unite’s women’s safety rep at HPC, explained why the charter wasn’t only about ensuring, for example, that PPE fits women correctly for safety reasons. It was also about dignity. She gave the example of women at HPC securing black safety trousers – previously they were grey.

“This is to give women dignity during their period so that if they have an accident, it’s not visible,” she explained. “But since securing the black trousers, women colleagues have told me about unexpected benefits. The grey trousers would often highlighted the shapes of their bottoms, and before they’d get horrible comments from men. Now with the black trousers, women have said it hides their shapes and they feel less exposed.”

Now, Sarah is hard at work in her role ensuring the provisions in the charter are followed. She works with both workwear suppliers and management to ensure that women’s needs on site are being met.

For Sarah, the charter has much more than simply practical value.

“Ensuring that all women have workwear that’s specific to them – not just smaller men’s sizes – shows that they are valued,” she explains. “It shows that they are supported, that they have a place here, even — and especially — in a male-dominated workplace.”

The workwear charter is the culmination of the work of several women on site at HPC as well as Unite’s South West women’s regional committee. Among those who helped make the charter possible was Unite member Maria Boyle, who we previously featured on UniteLive and BuildingWorker magazine.

Now working for a different company, Maria was formerly a Unite rep and established and led the women’s forum at HPC, in the role that Sarah now occupies. She initially became involved in Unite when she found there were no dedicated women’s toilet facilities on site.

The nearest toilet she could use was over a 15-minute walk away from where she worked.

“Every time I had to go to the toilet, I had to plan ahead. Some people would say, ‘It’ll take as long as it takes,’ but many of the women on site have had children. Our bladders are weaker and we can’t hold it that long. When you’re dying to go, a 15-minute walk is a long way.”

Maria (pictured above) went from one crusade in support of women on site to another – what started with demands for women’s toilets, continued on to footwear, trousers, PPE and more. Maria was so determined to make a difference for the women on site that she often bypassed normal channels – ‘cut out the middlemen’ as she called it – and went straight to decisionmakers. For black trousers, she went directly to the supplier to ask if they could be made.

“I wasn’t getting anywhere, so I had to. I didn’t care if I was going to get in trouble. At one point, our convenor was told by management to rein in the reps, referring to me,” Maria recounted.

Maria put in a motion at Unite’s policy conference last year calling for a workwear charter like HPC’s to be rolled out across workplaces nationally. Unite general secretary Sharon Graham, she said, is now taking the issue up with government ministers. Maria went on to explain why women’s specific workwear is so important.

“For many centuries, nursing was a female-dominated occupation,” she said. “But when men began entering the profession, they didn’t make men wear nurses’ dresses, did they? They adapted workwear to fit them, just like they must for women now.

“It’s not just in construction, and it’s not just PPE – that’s why it’s vital that any policies should address the issue as ‘workwear’ so that it covers everything,” Maria added.

“When workplaces issue women unisex workwear, unisex sizing is always designed with men in mind. When I was a bus driver, I had to wear a man’s 17-inch collar short-sleeve shirt just so that it would fit around the bust. But that meant the shirt was huge everywhere else – the ‘short’ sleeves nearly came down to my wrists.”

Unite national women’s officer and director of equalities Alison Spencer-Scragg hailed the tremendous achievements women at HPC have won by working together.

“Their work is what we’re now hoping to emulate across the sector under a revamped network of women construction members,” Alison explained.

Women in the sector who attend the online meeting on June 4 can expect to hear from other women including Sarah about what they’ve achieved in their workplaces. These wins can serve as a blueprint for women on other construction sites.

“It’s an opportunity to meet other women in the sector, talk about the issues collectively, and most importantly come up with solutions that we can take back to the workplace,” Alison said. “It’s going to be a really empowering meeting for women who want to become active in the union.”

Alison reported that initial meetings with women members in construction — organised in the wake of a Unite sexual harassment survey last year, as reported in the latest BuildingWorker — showed that women in the sector are crying out for change.

“They’ve really welcomed regular dialogue facilitated by the union because often they may be the only women on site. It has shown them that they’re not alone in their fight for basic things like appropriate workwear or toilet facilities. And as much as sexual harassment was an issue that’s been raised, beyond this, many women reported a very toxic working environment. They didn’t feel they could recommend it as a place to work for other women. That has got to change.”

Sarah agrees. She thinks back to that time that those male colleagues in a previous job had put her down after she returned from maternity leave.

“They made me feel like I didn’t belong – I started to believe it. But it was only when I spoke with other women colleagues that I realised they’re facing the same issues. I realised that those men were wrong. No one has the right to tell you what job you should do, or whether you belong. We all belong here.”

Sarah is urging other women to join Unite women in construction. Her ultimate message to them: “Never be afraid to use your voice”.

“The construction industry is still largely male-dominated, but women are proving every day that we belong here just as much as anyone else,” she said. “Never stay silent in front of disrespect, discrimination, or jokes that put women down. Respect and equality should never be optional — they should be normal for everyone in the workplace.”

She also advises other women in the sector to “support each other instead competing with each other”.

“Sometimes a simple conversation, support, or encouragement can give another woman the confidence to speak up and feel stronger at work,” Sarah went on to say.

And lastly, she adds, “Do not be afraid to challenge things that are unfair. Small changes can create big improvements for the future generation of women entering construction and other industries.”

If you’re a woman in the construction sector hoping to get involved, register for our June 4 online meeting here. The meeting will commence at 6.30pm.

Main photo: Unite general secretary Sharon Graham with HPC reps and Unite South West regional women’s committee activists celebrating the signing of the workwear charter.

By Hajera Blagg

Photos by Mark Thomas