{"id":611,"date":"2021-08-27T00:05:26","date_gmt":"2021-08-27T00:05:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/djcoregon.com\/skilledmag\/?p=611"},"modified":"2022-08-24T14:07:35","modified_gmt":"2022-08-24T14:07:35","slug":"madelyn-elder-encourages-women-to-commit-to-trades-career-seek-solaridity-from-others","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/djcoregon.com\/skilledmag\/2021\/08\/27\/madelyn-elder-encourages-women-to-commit-to-trades-career-seek-solaridity-from-others\/","title":{"rendered":"Madelyn Elder Encourages Women To Commit To Trades Career, Seek Solidarity From Others"},"content":{"rendered":"

MADELYN ELDER ENCOURAGES WOMEN TO COMMIT TO TRADES CAREER, SEEK SOLIDARITY FROM OTHERS<\/span><\/strong>
\nFrom cable splicer, union president and justice supporter to CFO, Elder is an example for all<\/span><\/h3>\n
\"Madelyn

Madelyn Elder was a cable splicer for more than 20 years before joining the Oregon Tradeswomen as their first chief financial officer. As a splicer, she enjoyed the freedom and independence of the job. Having no fear of heights was a must for the job; an added benefit was enjoying beautiful views of the region.<\/p><\/div>\n

By MELODY FINNEMORE<\/p>\n

Madelyn Elder worked as a cable splicer in Seattle and Portland for more than 20 years before joining Oregon Tradeswomen in 2014. Elder, who retired from OTW in June, recalls the freedom and independence she felt while climbing poles and splicing cable.<\/p>\n

\u201cI loved being outside most of the time, and in the mornings you get your work and then you\u2019re gone. You don\u2019t have anybody hanging over your shoulder and looking at what you\u2019re doing. As long as you get the job done and did it right, there were no hassles,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"madelyn\"Elder was one of the women who benefited from a 1977 sexual discrimination lawsuit against Bell System Companies. She was working as a directory assistance operator when Bell began hiring female cable splicers because of a consent decree following a legal settlement, and she immediately put in her transfer request. The women who applied for the jobs had to first pass a pole-climbing test and then a written exam.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a challenge at the beginning because you\u2019re developing strength and using your strength, and you\u2019re using your brain to understand electricity,\u201d she said, adding she had an advantage because she already swam regularly for exercise and rode her bike to work. \u201cTo be honest, if you\u2019re going into the trades you should really be working out even before you apply.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elder noted that a lack of fear of heights is another essential qualification for pole climbers and other jobs in the trades that are high off the ground. Despite a few fights with squirrels on the job, she found it mostly peaceful.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the best things is working on a beautiful spring day, looking at the Columbia River and watching osprey catch fish while you\u2019re splicing,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

After working in Seattle for nine years, Elder moved to Portland in 1986 and stopped splicing in 1999 so she could focus on worker justice and financial management. She was president of Communication Workers of America (CWA) 7091 from 2000-2014 and served on the national executive board. During that period, she took night classes to earn a degree in accounting.<\/p>\n

Elder retired from CWA in 2014 and joined OTW full time as its first chief financial officer. She and OTW founder Connie Ashbrook go way back and Elder was among OTW\u2019s first members.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a great mission. Young women, and especially young women of color, come through the class and as an apprentice and recognize their power that, \u2018Yeah, I can fix this and I can build things.\u2019 It\u2019s fabulous,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She also appreciates OTW\u2019s annual Career Fair.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s always a sense of excitement and accomplishment. You could actually see lives change and see families thrive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elder noted that, in order for the construction industry to solve its worker shortage, it needs to be more welcoming to women, men of color and others who are underrepresented in the trades. A larger effort must be made to make it easier for women to apply for apprenticeship jobs and be successful. As an example, she suggested, free child care should be made available.<\/p>\n

\u201cSingle mothers have so many problems with child care and child care should be free. That should be part of the common good. That is one of the things that has kept women from really succeeding,\u201d Elder said.<\/p>\n

Her advice to young women considering a career in the trades is to commit to it and seek out solidarity with other female co-workers.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor young women, I really think it\u2019s sticking to it, it\u2019s exercising, and it\u2019s standing up for yourself and being secure in your accomplishments,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd when you have your crew back you up, you\u2019re going to be more successful.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a farewell note to Elder, OTW said, \u201cMadelyn\u2019s work and leadership has been invaluable to our growth as an organization, and living our work and mission to ensure equity and dignity in the workplace. Madelyn\u2019s team will miss her leadership, sass, and joyful laughter. We know she will continue showing up and speaking out for worker justice.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Madelyn Elder worked as a cable splicer in Seattle and Portland for more than 20 years before joining Oregon Tradeswomen in 2014. Elder, who retired from OTW in June, recalls the freedom and independence she felt while climbing poles and splicing cable.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":613,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18615],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-611","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-headlines"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/djcoregon.com\/skilledmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/611"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/djcoregon.com\/skilledmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/djcoregon.com\/skilledmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/djcoregon.com\/skilledmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/djcoregon.com\/skilledmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=611"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/djcoregon.com\/skilledmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/611\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/djcoregon.com\/skilledmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/613"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/djcoregon.com\/skilledmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/djcoregon.com\/skilledmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/djcoregon.com\/skilledmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}