Chelsea Fenton, a union laborer and site foreman, uses TikTok to introduce women to skilled-trade careers, saying union jobs can pay over $40 an hour without a college degree and include pensions, annuities and safety training. She says many women don't know these options exist.
Fenton has worked as a union laborer for nearly 14 years and is a site foreman on a large commercial project; she belongs to LIUNA Local 596 in Holyoke, Massachusetts. She started posting comedic clips about her work, then began answering questions from women nationwide about entering the industry, apprenticeships, age limits and pregnancy on job sites.
Fenton says women in unionized trades make 23% more than their nonunion counterparts and receive the same hourly wage as male counterparts in union jobs; she says the wage gap is smaller in unionized work. She credits relationships with other tradeswomen for confidence and stability, even when she is the only woman on a job site.
