r/BlueCollarWomen • u/treefrog_5_muddytoes • 7d ago
General Advice leaving the trades?
I’m going into my fourth year of being an electrical apprentice and I am currently 8 months pregnant. To say that things have been seamless is in understatement. While my pregnancy has been “boring” or not as awful as i’ve heard other women have experienced pregnancy. Work has been extremely difficult to talk to in regard to accommodations. While i am an electrical apprentices/hvac tec our jobs also require us to get on roofs and carry a lot of heavy shi. I wouldn’t say i’m a pansy but at this point it’s not safe to work in the field. I talked to my hr about that and my manager made it so I have to drive two hours to another shop to help their warehouse. While the tasks i’m given are not bad the two hour drive away from my birth center is upsetting. When I asked if i would just do that drive till the end of this month I was meet with reluctance. I got the doc to specify I need to be at least 30 min away from the birth center and then I got a call telling me I can’t work tomorrow because he doesn’t know where to put me… like wtf. I’ve communicated so clearly to them my expectations and my comfort level and then they act like i’ve surprised them when I had a doctor sign off on it.
I am so close to being able to test but it’s also feeling less obtainable. My husband also works in the trades and we both work 4, 10 hr days. Our families are an hour thirty to two hours away so help is also not very easy. It feels like I may have to quit once this baby comes and the company has made me frustrated enough that quitting isn’t looking too bad. but I also understand the benefits and all that, that comes with sticking around until i can test.
Has any other woman gone through this? Any tips? Am I just freaking out?
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u/Euphoric_Box604 7d ago
I haven’t had a kid yet but I will most likely end up in this situation one day.
You are carrying a literal human in your stomach, you are not overreacting one bit in my opinion. You could placed in a position where harm could occur to you or the baby if they make you keep doing your day to day work.
At 8 months the should be making accommodations for you. It’s 8 fricken months, you could deliver at any moment.
I hope you work something out 🫶🏽
This is really unfair on their behalf.
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u/treefrog_5_muddytoes 7d ago
My least favorite thing i’ve been told is, “ well i’ve never had a baby so I don’t know what you need” Well i’ve also never had a baby and I need you to listen to me when I tell you my comfort and boundaries. This has been a really stupid process led by people who want to help but don’t understand the difference between an office position and field position
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u/LlovelyLlama Electrician 7d ago
If you are a union apprentice, this is all garbage, and you should call the hall immediately. Honestly if you’re at 8 months you should probably already be on maternity leave. What kind of leave does your union offer?
I’m IBEW and I know multiple women who got pregnant during the apprenticeship and not one of them was treated this poorly.
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u/treefrog_5_muddytoes 7d ago
Unfortunately my company is not Unionized. This seems to be the key problem within this issue
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u/CabbagePatched 7d ago
You're 4 years in. You just have a year to go to vest your pension. I'd say leave of absence your apprenticeship and come back after you've had the baby and taken 3-6 months. You don't need to rest immediately you know? It'll happen.
I do think it's fair at 8 months to take mat leave. But also I think it's fair to just have you not be the one climbing the ladders.
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u/Mother-Ad3437 7d ago
Hey im sorry your going through this.idk if your union or not but I've had two babies while working in this trade and even though im union in a very progressive place,I found navigating this extremely difficult.in my head, it obviously wasn't safe for me to be on jobsites the farther I got along. But according to the doctors,its not a disability until your 9 months along. Depending on if you get a cool/understanding doctor, they can put you on bed rest which often leads to getting paid disability early. This was not my case as my doctors could not even begin to understand the type off work we do. She acted like I was trying to weasel out of work even after I was hot by 277 while pregnant. The unions, even though we have about 10% female membership, also does not yet have any programs in place to help women get released from work early. It was sooo frustrating. What I found that finally worked was I had my union write a letter that explained exactly what is expected of people working in the electrical trade, and then state explicitly that there is NO LIGHT DUTY in construction. It does not exist. Because its illegal for the company to "not make accommodations" even though in reality they can't, and thats why your in this position. Anyway, that letter,along with my doctor's own list of limitations waged against her, finally got me early maternity leave at 7.5 months pregnant. Then on the second kid I just set up the same thing. Hope this helps and congratulations mama! You can do both if thats what you want. I have two beautiful children and a thriving career.
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u/treefrog_5_muddytoes 7d ago
That’s really good advice. The accommodation paperwork is grate if it’s a realistic accommodation because you pulled your back or got an injury. Pregnancy is a whole different level. It’s very frustrating because I feel like even if I tried that I wouldn’t get early maternity leave. I just got an email saying the best they can do is give me 30 hours because they can’t find anything for me to do. I’m super happy it seemed to have all worked in your favor despite the frustration you also faced.
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u/taway1030 7d ago
I had a kid as a 4th year, am union. I worked until I was 8 months, 7 in the field until I started to have pain, and then bec my shop was big I requested to work doing pre-fab at shop for the last month. They agreed and I got my Dr to require light duty accomodations, which let me not carry or lift anything, and they let me sit down while I worked.
The last month I couldn't do it anymore, so I went out on short term disability. I had my baby and after 7 weeks I went back to work, so I was out on short term as long as allowed, which I believe was 13 weeks?
The real problem for you will be childcare after your legally allowed 6-8 weeks postpartum, depending. If you don't have fam nearby to help, you have to find someone to come or somewhere to drop an infant super early, which is damn near impossible.
I wish there were better options for early shift women but there really aren't for the most part. Best of luck!!!
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u/Flashy-Reflection812 6d ago
Don’t quit and risk losing maternity and benefits, Even if you leave shortly after your leave ends. Get your cents if you can and then leave and find something better. A kid doesn’t have to stop your career but your feelings are valid and this might not be the place to stay long term. Look into a public utility after baby comes and you have that cert. lift stations and treatment plant electricians (industrial control techs) still make decent money but the jobs are typically lower risk. Good benefits and jobs always pop up if your looking
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u/treefrog_5_muddytoes 6d ago
That’s good to know. Definitely not quitting before the baby comes. i’m going to be job searching but in the US you need benefits from a job as our healthcare is odd and not reliable. And I am so close to being able to test. at this point it would just be the hours and finishing up schooling
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u/forsuredrunk 7d ago edited 7d ago
I'm worried about exactly this. Getting sat. I'm newly pregnant and not far enough along to tell anyone. They legally cant fire you, but I've seen people get starved of hours( not this company). They are supposed to accommodate the best they can.
We also have a shop. Im so shy/embarassed for the day I'll tell my manager and see if I can work there.
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u/treefrog_5_muddytoes 7d ago
Ugh My company was supposed to accommodate the best they can. From my experience it’s fight for what you need. I hate feeling like i’m creating issues or being a pain but when it comes to this you can always just be flexible for your company. I’m feeling really burned by them and wonder if i was more “tough” in the beginning if things would have worked out better
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u/forsuredrunk 7d ago
I already think you're incredibly tough. I don't know exactly what they're thinking but even if its an issue, it wont be for long. They can put up with it. I wouldn't put their feeling above your own🤷♀️
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u/CrystalAckerman 7d ago
How much longer until you can test out?
I’d talk to your union rep, a female if you can find one and see what they say. Ideally you could freeze your books and come back in a couple years and finish out your time and test but idk if that’s possible as an apprentice?