2024 WANTO awards announced!
Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su traveled to Pittsburgh to announce the nine awardees of the 2024 Women in Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Occupations (WANTO) grant. The awardees will use $6 million in funds – the highest amount in WANTO history – to help recruit, train and retain more women in quality pre-apprenticeship and Registered Apprenticeship programs and nontraditional occupations. They will work in nine states and Washington, D.C. to prepare women for good jobs in the building trades, advanced manufacturing, IT and other fields.
Eliminating Gender-Based Violence and Harassment in the World of Work
The Women’s Bureau marked Domestic Violence Awareness and Prevention Month with a blog profiling one of our 2023 Fostering Access, Rights and Equity (FARE) grant awardees, Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence (CCADV), who are partnering with employers to educate entire workplaces about rights and resources related to domestic violence.
- Read the blog
- See the presidential proclamation on Domestic Violence Awareness and Prevention Month
- Get the French translation of our fact sheet on gender-based violence and harassment
Ensuring Equity in Infrastructure
Women’s Bureau Director Wendy Chun-Hoon and several staff traveled to New Orleans for two events, the Tradeswomen Taskforce Institute (hosted by the National Taskforce on Tradeswomen’s Issues) and the Tradeswomen Build Nations convening (hosted by North America’s Building Trades Unions). Acting Secretary Su – pictured above with Director Chun-Hoon and tradeswomen she’s met on her travels – gave a rousing speech at Tradeswomen Build Nations and marched in the labor parade.
With 5,200 participants, it was the largest Tradeswomen Build Nations gathering to date. President Biden sent the attendees a special message, once again underscoring the Biden-Harris administration’s commitment to expanding pathways to good union jobs, including in nontraditional occupations, for women.
Strengthening the Care Economy
WB staff joined Acting Secretary Su at an event focused on the importance of investing in care infrastructure and highlighted a new child care operator apprenticeship program in New Hampshire. It’s crystal clear that a robust childcare system is a must to enable parents and the economy to thrive. A new Department of Labor issue brief shows that if every working parent who relies on paid child care to stay employed lost that support, women's labor force participation would be set back to 1974 levels, leading to a more than $2.1 trillion loss to GDP.
We also released an issue brief that examines paid family and medical leave policies from around the world and draws lessons for a potential U.S. paid leave program.
Upcoming Webinars
- From Apprenticeship to Contractor: The Lifecycle of a Tradeswoman. November 21, 6:00-7:30 p.m. EST (3:00-4:30 p.m. PST). This webinar held on Women in Apprenticeship Day will explore the diverse career pathways available for women in the trades. Register here.
- Best Practices to Connect Military Spouses and Veterans with Good Jobs. November 22, 12:00-1:00 p.m. EST. This webinar will showcase the successful approach of a WANTO grantee and offer practical steps that organizations and communities can take to improve job opportunities for military spouses and women veterans. Register here.
- Removing Obstacles: Exploring Military Spouse Employment in the Southeast. November 19, 12:00-1:30 p.m. ET. Hosted by the Southeast region, this webinar will highlight priority issues related to military spouse employment, including license portability and child care. Register here.
Women's Bureau in the News
- Arizona Republic: 'I'm thriving': Phoenix nonprofit helping women land jobs in trades like welding
- Las Vegas Review-Journal: $700K+ grant to support women in construction in Southern Nevada
- WESA: Pittsburgh nonprofit receives federal grant funds to bring more women into manufacturing
- Eagle Times: Vermont Works for Women receives grant
- Fortune: More Black and Latina women are leading unions and changing how they work
- Safety + Health: DOL Women’s Bureau publishes guides on safe leave
We Want to Hear from You!
“Occupational segregation” is the gendered sorting of men and women into different types of jobs. It leads to women being overrepresented in certain jobs, which are valued and compensated less than male-dominated jobs.
We’ve heard from many working women about their experiences with gendered job expectations, the challenges they face at work, the support systems that help them thrive and the policy changes that would help them succeed. We'd like to hear from you.
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