PHOTO: Ironworker apprentice Natalie Bell displays her ‘Rosie the Riveter’ tattoo, at the Iron Workers 172 Training Center in Columbus, Ohio. Photo by Graham Stokes for States Newsroom.
“The Biden administration is counting on more women like Bell seeing the value of jobs in the construction industry. Over the next decade, the administration wants to add a million more women in construction jobs to aid in infrastructure projects across the country, including its effort to increase semiconductor manufacturing…”
I came across the above information on the Colorado Newsline website, in an article written by Casey Quinlan, which you can read here: “Help wanted: Women needed for U.S. chips manufacturing plan to succeed”.
The article starts out by introducing Natalie Bell, who is training to become a welder in Columbus, Ohio. I really liked her ‘Rosie the Riveter” tattoo.
I confess, I have an abiding interest in women. Especially if they know how to weld. Even better, if they know how to patch potholes.
If they have tattoos, that’s just an added bonus.
Back in the 1970s, when I was in 2nd grade, my mom went back to work. She’d already put my dad through college, working as a typist… but then took a few years off to have kids. Once my sister and I were safely in school (back when schools were safe) she got a job as a keypunch operator, which I gather was similar to being a typist, but somewhat noisier.
The job selection open to women was fairly limited back then. I suspect Mom could have been a good welder, or electrician, or even a doctor. Or a psychiatrist. But women who wanted to work at paying jobs, normally taught school, or worked as nurses, or typists, or did some type of social work. Mom started with keypunching but eventually became a computer programmer, in a office full of male programmers. No tattoos were required, in that particular profession.
Later, Mom started a consulting business, which allowed her more time at home to do laundry and vacuum and cook dinner. Yes, a lot of women, back then, did housecleaning professionally, but Mom did it for free. In between her consulting work. She said housekeeping provided a nice break from dealing with clients. “Asshole clients” was the actual term she used.
I wish she had become a psychiatrist. But let’s leave that alone for now.
I had no idea that, according to people who know about this kind of thing, President Biden wants to add more than a million women to the workforce, specifically “to aid in infrastructure projects across the country, including its effort to increase semiconductor manufacturing. ”
I was hoping the infrastructure projects will include the patching of potholes. So I wonder about the semiconductor manufacturing angle.
Granted, we all want semiconductors. (I was going to say, “We all NEED semiconductors” but didn’t want to sound too pushy.) And granted, Asia has lately been leading the way with semiconductor manufacturing, with South Korea, Taiwan, Japan and China producing more than 75% of all semiconductors. Apparently, about 2 million people work in the semiconductor industry, worldwide.
Not sure how many women are involved?
I found this photo showing a woman working in the electronics industry — probably from South Korea, Taiwan, Japan or China. (Just a wild guess.) I can’t tell if this woman has a ‘Rosie the Riveter’ tattoo, but I kind of doubt it. Maybe an Apple tattoo?
Last August, President Biden signed the ‘CHIPS’ legislation into law, which will reportedly provide $53 billion to the struggling American semiconductor industry. (We currently make about 10% of the world’s semiconductors. Too many women going into welding.) CHIPS will funnel $13 billion into “R&D and workforce development.” Whether that’s mostly “R&D” or mostly “workforce development” I don’t know. But I can guess.
Intel is building a big semiconductor factory in Ohio… but to receive CHIPS subsidies, the new law requires companies to ensure that the workers they hire — including construction workers building the plant — have access to affordable housing and high-quality child care.
I can’t find any information about whether CHIPS will fund access to affordable tattoo parlors.
Underrated writer Louis Cannon grew up in the vast American West, although his ex-wife, given the slightest opportunity, will deny that he ever grew up at all.