We'll Call You If We Need You: Experiences of Women Working Construction (ILR Press books) (Hardcover)

by Susan Eisenberg (Author) "When I began my electrical apprenticeship in 1978 with Local 103 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, I felt very lucky..." (more)
Key Phrases: electrical apprenticeship, apprentice coordinator, apprenticeship coordinator, Kansas City, New York City, Kathy Walsh (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
At a time when feminism seems mired in the hermeneutics of gender--whether, for instance, there is such a thing as feminine discourse or a feminine management style--We'll Call You When We Need You serves as a refreshing reminder of what movements like feminism and affirmative action truly stand for. Twenty years ago, Susan Eisenberg showed up for her first day as a union electrician, only to be refused entrance by the building's security guard. He thought she was a terrorist; as Eisenberg puts it, "In 1978, that seemed more likely than that I might actually be an apprentice electrician." Also in 1978, the federal government first put into place its ambitious time lines for opening construction work to women; in three years, the Department of Labor anticipated, women would constitute 6.9 percent of the industry's workforce. Perhaps predictably, this never came to pass, and what women did find work in the trades did so in the face of considerable hostility, abuse, and even physical violence from their male coworkers. We'll Call You When We Need You is the story of how these women persevered, learned their trades, and in the process prevailed. Eisenberg allows their voices to speak directly to the reader, intertwining interviews with her own observations on topics ranging from job training to sexual harassment. The 30 women represented here speak with passion and humor about their lives as carpenters, electricians, and plumbers, using 20 years of experience to evaluate what feminism and affirmative action have achieved--as well as what they have not.

From Library Journal
Eisenberg, a master electrician and poet, shattered more than one female stereotype when she began her apprenticeship with Local 103 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers in 1978. Affirmative-action programs had been initiated, and it was thought that a historic transformation was beginning in the construction industry. But as evidenced by her interviews with 30 women carpenters, electricians, painters, plumbers, and ironworkers, the attitude of "Here comes another damn woman on the job" has remained intact. Eliciting gritty insights during her interviews, she reveals indignities and disillusion as well as the strategiesAincluding humorAthat women have used to survive on these jobs. She also discusses why change has not occurred and why women put up with the abuse: "I hated [the foreman]," says one woman, "I just kept my mouth shut because I needed the job." Eye-opening and often disturbing, this is a fine study on the limits of affirmative action that can be appreciated by lay readers and scholars alike.AKay Meredith Dusheck, Univ. of Iowa, Anamosa
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 216 pages
• Publisher: Cornell University Press (April 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0801433606
• ISBN-13: 978-0801433603
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,018,913 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An American Classic, December 12, 2006

By	Richard Coeur de Lion "Free Man In Paris" (BOSTON, MA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: We'll Call You If We Need You: Experiences of Women Working Construction (ILR Press books) (Paperback)

Susan Eisenberg honored our literature class at UMass/Boston with a poetry reading. This wonderful poet constructs vivid images which are rooted in her experience on the front lines of the Women's Movement. As a man, I didn't really expect to identify with her work. MEA CULPA. If you've ever had a dream of better life, a better place, a better YOU - then this is the author for you. My dad, a retired lineman and Eisenberg's union brother in the IBEW, can't get enough of her work. A true American classic.