A vital Department of Labor initiative—and the Women’s Bureau office that supports it—helped us build stable, high-paying careers in the trades. Gutting them now would threaten women’s economic futures nationwide.
U.S. Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer has given most U.S. Department of Labor employees until April 18 to opt into early retirement or deferred resignation programs, signaling the imminence of mass layoffs. As ironworker tradeswomen, we are particularly concerned about what this could mean for the Women’s Bureau, a critical agency within the department, as well as the Women in Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Occupations (WANTO) program it administers.
The WANTO program has transformed both of our lives. We were able to secure stable, high-wage jobs in skilled trades thanks to Oregon Tradeswomen’s pre-apprenticeship program, supported by WANTO. These careers have allowed us to support ourselves and our families, providing economic security and imbuing us with a sense of pride in our work. The skills we have developed through these opportunities have opened doors to future career sustainability and financial stability, without the burden of college debt often required by more traditional high-paying fields.
It is imperative that Chavez-DeRemer, a former representative of Oregon, preserve and expand support for the Women’s Bureau and WANTO. It is only fair: Oregon has received and benefited greatly from WANTO funding, along with additional federal funding for infrastructure. These investments have driven the state’s thriving economy at a time when employers nationwide face a shortage of skilled workers in key industries like construction, plumbing and electrical work.
As the country approaches a critical turning point in the workforce, WANTO and the broader work of the Women’s Bureau present strategies to combat this shortage of skilled labor. The Women’s Bureau, specifically through its regional offices, has played an instrumental role in helping employers in Oregon and other states develop effective strategies for recruiting, training, and retaining skilled workers, particularly women.
Oregon is already a WANTO success story, boasting over 10 percent of female apprentices in the totality of construction apprenticeships, compared to the national average of just 4 percent. Women face steep barriers to accessing apprenticeships and skilled trade jobs. While we make up less than half of our country’s workforce, we account for 70 percent of all low-wage workers.
Increasing women’s access to careers in skilled trades is a concrete pathway into the middle class that WANTO paves the way for.
Still, as Oregon continues to face workforce shortages, the importance of maintaining and increasing funding for the Women’s Bureau and the WANTO program cannot be overstated.
These initiatives ensure Oregon employers—along with employers across the country—have opportunities to enter the skilled workforce, while also bolstering economic security for workers and their families, ultimately strengthening the broader economy.
Eliminating these two critical programs, alongside countless cuts to other programs that sustain our country’s workforce and economy, would have devastating effects on women. It would hinder their ability to seek economic independence, deprive industries of desperately needed skilled workers, and dismantle a proven pathway that provides women the support they need to break into America’s middle class.
