On August 2, the Worcester Sunday Telegram published an article supporting greater diversity in the construction trades. The three authors, a leader in the Carpenters Union and two union contractors, point to PGTI’s Worcester Workforce Disparity Study to document the the low numbers of women and people of color who are currently working in the trades across the region. That study also proved that the diverse workforce is available. As the authors describe, “In Worcester, several projects are modeling commitments to access and equity in construction.” These include the Polar Ballpark, a new courthouse and the Central Massachusetts YMCA. These model projects are succeeding because they have made the commitment to diversity and are applying Best Practices for hiring and retaining women and people of color.

Included in the authors’ action steps is:

“Eliminate race and gender pay gaps among the trade’s workforce, and ensure living wages and benefits are paid by using union contractors who pay every worker equally according to their apprentice or journey-level. Fair, living wages bring additional consumer spending power and broader economic benefit to our communities at a time when it is even more needed.”

Keep it up, Worcester and the Central Mass unions!

A downloadable copy of the article is available here.