Neduzak helping more women find the trades

Listen to this article

Like so many people in her generation. Jennipher Neduzak was told early on that failing to go to college would result in a life spent as a “burger flipper” or even worse.

So Neduzak, a native of South Milwaukee, dutifully pursued a diploma after graduating from high school. Also like so many others, she eventually found college wasn’t for her. Turning to her family for help with her next step, she followed the advice of an uncle who was in the paint industry and took a job at the paint manufacturer PPG.

One of Neduzak’s first discoveries was that she liked working on her feet more than sitting at a desk. She also learned that those people who had warned her that skipping college would inevitably mean low pay weren’t entirely on the mark.

Less happily, she came to see that blue-collar job sites still did too little to accommodate women. When she became pregnant, Neduzak found herself growing anxious that she was being unnecessarily exposed to hazardous chemicals.

“So myself and a co-worker tried to help make things better for future women that came through,” she said. “We wanted to ensure no other female would have to put their bodies through that.”

It was that work that piqued Neduzak’s interest in safety and eventually led to her current position at District 7 of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades in Wisconsin. As a field representative and community-outreach staff worker, she travels the state helping members with various matters and trying to recruit more women to the trades.

Neduzak said having a recruiter who is a woman makes a big difference.

“A lot of my time is spent going out to a lot of career fairs, because I truly believe it’s easier for a high school girl to come up to me than some of my co-workers, who are big and gruff looking,” she said.

Tom Coyne, president of Local 781 of the painters union, said union officials want to have women make up 20% of their organization’s members by 2024. Coyne said he thinks that goal would be hard to reach without having people like Neduzak on staff.

“I think it’s just like anything. Women are more likely to confide in another woman,” he said. “So she’s a great help with that.”

Neduzak has some suggestions for specific improvements. For one, she believes there’s a crying need for child care that’s offered early enough for workers who are often expected to be on the job at first light.

“I think we should organize our own daycare,” she says. “We should have a co-op for daycare.”