WASHINGTON, DC – March 26, 2019 – This week, Engineering News-Record (ENR) honored Vicki O’Leary, Chairwoman of North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU) Tradeswomen’s Committee, with the 2019 ENR Award of Excellence in recognition of her leadership to improve building trades’ workforce diversity and job site safety and health.

“North America’s Building Trades Unions congratulates Vicki on this very well deserved award,” said NABTU President Sean McGarvey. “Vicki has been pivotal to advancing equality, diversity and respect within the Ironworkers union and across all of the building trades. Her thought leadership and initiatives to prevent bullying, promote diversity and improve safety are invaluable to our industry and the entire union movement. We are tremendously grateful to her for being a true champion of change and applaud her for earning this esteemed honor.”

Throughout her career with the Ironworkers (IW), O’Leary has propelled change to improve union construction diversity and safety including helping to rollout the IW “Be That One Guy” initiative to stop workplace harassment and psychological violence and introducing the IW paid maternity leave program, the first program of its kind in the building trades. Additionally, through her leadership on NABTU Tradeswomen’s Committee, more NABTU affiliates have developed maternity leave policies and anti-harassment programs, and NABTU’s TradesWomen Build Nations Conference has grown to be the biggest women in construction conference in the world. The building trades unions continue to advance her efforts and investments to improve equality and ensure that every building trades union member is respected and protected at work.

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