Amy Avison, 27, is doing a carpentry apprenticeship. The government is trying to get more women to become builders because of a huge labour shortage. New Zealand Herald Photograph by Greg Bowker
Amy Avison, 27, is doing a carpentry apprenticeship. The government is trying to get more women to become builders because of a huge labour shortage. New Zealand Herald Photograph by Greg Bowker
Female construction workers are benefiting from a boom in the industry with reportedly soaring pay packets of over a hundred thousand dollars.
As these young women make their way into an industry that was formerly dominated by men, they are occupying a space that remains somewhat hostile. But they're being rewarded financially for their hard work.
"We do have so many girls now," Renata, who works as a traffic controller on the Sydney light rail project told news.com.au.
"We have two (female) labourers, and so many girls being truck drivers."
Renata used to manage constriction sites in Brazil.
She said a lot of her colleagues say the work is boring and they're just doing it "for money".
"A lot of them are on a working holiday visa," she said, telling of how some girls will take long hours to make as much money as possible before exiting the job forever.
Pay varies for female construction workers depending on their level of expertise and the type of work they engage in.
It's been reported by the Daily Telegraph that these women can make up to A$130,000 (NZ$137,000). The women's salaries per hour are being reported as being as high as A$42.25 (NZ$44.5) per hour. They also include large travel allowances.
But Renata said the pay always ends up being good by virtue of the shifts being long. A standard shift is 10 hours. Australian law requires that all minutes worked over a 10-hour shift accrue overtime for the worker, so long shifts mean big bucks for these hard working girls.
Amy Avison, 27, is doing a carpentry apprenticeship. The government is trying to get more women to become builders because of a huge labour shortage. New Zealand Herald Photograph by Greg Bowker
'NOT EVERYONE IS NICE TO US'
Renata describes many of the duties that have to do with pedestrian management as important safety work, but says public understanding of this is limited and often leads to the girls being mocked. People think the girls are lazy or getting in the way.
"Not everyone is nice (to) us," she said, describing occasions where hostility can arise between pedestrians and female construction workers.
"They can be very mean. They abuse us.
"They don't realise we're like protecting them," Renata said. And she knows what she's talking about.
Renata previously worked as an architect in Brazil, and managed construction sites. She emigrated here four years ago.
But when asked if she thought the girls weren't taken seriously as safety officers because of their gender, she said she thinks her male colleagues get a harder time when they're directing traffic and pedestrians.
"They call them lazy, they say, 'You don't want to do labour.'"
Renata said the women were generally better at diffusing tense situations between pedestrians who became frustrated at construction interfering with their commutes and walking routes.
"We have so many machines going up and down, diggers, excavators, gates, if the gate is open and it's windy the gates can hit someone.
"We have to pay attention to so many details and people have no clue."
She first worked as a cleaner before getting into construction.
She hopes to work as an architect again but says the industry here is different.
