Two Local Women To Represent Union At International Conference

Thousands of women who work in the trades will gather in Chicago this weekend for the annual Trades Women Build Nations conference – including two from the plumbers’ union representing East Central Illinois residents.

Laura Abbott and Jana Ping of United Association Local 149 will be among those attending the largest gathering of tradeswomen in the world. The conference, organized by TradesFutures and North America’s Building Trades Unions, celebrates sisterhood, solidarity and opportunities in the unionized building trades. This year’s theme is “She’s not waiting. She’s leading.”

Abbott, a fifth-year apprentice at the University of Illinois, attended last year’s conference in New Orleans, as well.

“To go from being one of the only female apprentices in our local to walking into a room jampacked with women who work like me, think and talk like me, it sounds silly to say, but it’s refreshing almost,” she said. “You get to hear the different paths they took, how they work in construction, they’re educators at the (training center), program coordinators, there’s so much women do in the trades. We’re all incredibly different, but we have this thing that unifies us.”

Ping, who grew up in Tolono, joined Local 149 just three months ago and is now working as an apprentice at A&R Mechanical in Urbana. She previously worked as a welder at Colmac Coil Manufacturing, a non-union shop in Paxton.

“I’ve always loved welding and what was a hobby turned into a career,” she said. “I’m very honored and grateful for this opportunity and interested to see all the other women in this trade from everywhere in the nation. It’s not a very female-dominated world that we work in, so I think it will be a really cool experience.”

Ping said her experience with Local 149 has been positive, as “I’m not treated any differently than the guys. It’s all very fair and equal for everyone and I appreciate that.”

Abbott, who formerly taught at Urbana Middle School, said Local 149 has doubled the number of active pipefitters since she joined and she helped form the local Coalition of Labor Unions for Women last year, which now has about 30 members, providing support and mentorship for other women in Champaign-area trade unions.

“Do we look like typical construction workers? No,” she said. “It’s inherently in our heads that women can do anything, but it’s also important to physically see someone who looks like you, talks like you, doing what you do.”

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