Roxana Garcia sat in a classroom one recent night in New York City with 38 strangers, all with one goal: get a construction jobone of the few industries open to New York’s growing immigrant population.
Garcia, 36, a nurse who flew to New York three months ago from Guayaquil, Ecuador, with her partner and two children, he has subsisted ever since on cleaning jobs, but he sees a future in construction.
“I came here with a suitcase full of dreams,” he said in Spanish. “If I can turn this into a career, that would be great, because I can’t focus on what I once was.”
Lured by the prospect of more stable and better-paying work, more migrant women are entering the male-dominated construction industry, social service providers said, at a time when the City struggles to accommodate tens of thousands of asylum seekers.
They face sexism, exploitative labor practices, and dangerous conditions on the job. But for newcomers who may not qualify for legal residency for years, if ever, it can also be the first step toward a better life.
There is great demand for the jobs. In 2019, before a flood of migration from South and Central America, the New York Department of Buildings issued 20,423 Site Safety Training cards, certification that workers must carry in large construction works. In the first half of this year, the city has already issued three times as many cards. Of the more than 300,000 people in New York with active cards, 94 percent are men, reports the Department of Buildings.
But the number of women entering the industry is growing. The Worker’s Justice Project, an immigrant labor advocacy group, first offered a construction safety class for women in 2010, with just eight students. Last month she held two classes for women, each with about 40 students, the legal limit.
About 80,000 asylum seekers have arrived in New York City since last spring, the city said.
Unlike past waves, where it was common for single men to make the journey, more people are crossing the southern border as families, fleeing violence and economic woes in countries like Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela, said Mario Russell, executive director of the New York Center for Immigration Studies.
Construction is one of the few industries that is hiring.
There is also opportunity for salary advancement if workers become certified in specialized skills.
But making the transition is difficult. Adriana Ariza, 49, from Mexico, first earned her Site Safety Training card in 2016 after leaving a job making wigs that paid $9 an hour.
As the first woman on a wrecking crew, Ariza’s salary increased to $15 an hour.
Often his coworkers turned their backs on him. “They told me: ‘I have a better right to this job, because I am the breadwinner for my family,’” he said in Spanish.
Ariza worked in construction for three years, expanding his skills, though his salary never increased. He left the industry after hurting his back and now works for nonprofit organizations that support immigrants.
She still credits construction for giving her a boost in the workforce.
“More than anything, it gave me the opportunity to know that I am capable of doing things that only men can do,” she said.
For Garcia, construction remains his best opportunity to earn a reliable income, he said. Her goal for now, she added, is to find stability for her two children, who are with her and her partner in a migrant shelter. “I’m here for their dreams,” she said.
STEFANOS CHEN, and ANA LEY
The New York Times
BBC-NEWS-SRC: http://www.nytsyn.com/subscribed/stories/6802424, IMPORTING DATE: 2023-07-13 17:20:08
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