|
Women can enter the male-dominated industries of plumbing, gasfitting, drainlaying and roofing – emerging successful in their own right.
Colleen Upton from Hutt Gas and Plumbing Systems Limited in Wellington has been in the industry since 1996. She first began work as an administrative contractor for Hutt Gas and Plumbing in 1996. Along with Darren Smith and Scott Adin, she is partner in a company that now has 42 staff.
The company has gone from strength to strength. In 2006, HGP received the industry trainer of the year award at the Master Plumbers, Gasfitters and Drainlayers NZ Inc annual conference. Hutt Gas and Plumbing has 14 apprentices who are all at various stages of their apprenticeship. They enjoy solid support and a no-nonsense approach from Colleen, Scott and Darren. Colleen monitors progress and she has some interesting observations: “Some of the boys follow a pattern. All goes rosy when they start their apprenticeship and begin to earn cash.”
“They get their heads down and work hard. We review their performance and use milestones like the block courses to review their pay. Suddenly late into the 2nd year and third year their work falls off. We notice they haven’t brought lunch with them and are losing weight. It coincides with them having enough money to go flatting. They miss out on home cooking and having washing and other things done for them. They eat poorly, live it up and have no money for basics. When they return home to save money, their work picks up again. I call it the ‘speed wobbles’ as it is always at the same time.”
Colleen loves her work and still gets a real buzz from the industry after 11 years. Recently, she became a member of the Board of the Master Plumbers, Gasfitters and Drainlayers NZ Inc.
Two years ago, the partners at Hutt Gas and Plumbing were asked if they would employ a women apprentice. One said no and two said yes. Twelve months later HPG employed their first female apprentice. Shelley Weaver is a unique young woman. She studied jazz, ballet and tap as a child, and is now learning to master ballroom dancing. By day, she is an apprentice plumber and gasfitter. Shelley is at home in a large construction site
or in someone’s house sorting the plumbing or gasfitting. How did she get here you may ask? Shelley’s dad is a plumber. In fact, he’s now a plumbing inspector for a council. Following in her dad’s footsteps wasn’t what Shelley wanted to do. It had never occurred to Shelley to follow her dad until one day she and a friend were talking about careers. Apparently, in plumbing you could earn loads of dosh. Shelly thought, “Right I can do that, I’m good with my hands.”
She went home and talked to her dad, as she didn’t want to be at school any longer. Luckily for Shelley, Dad had a few contacts and Shelley was soon having work experience. She went on to do a pretrade course at WelTec. Both these experiences gave her a lot of confidence to go for what she wanted to do. The next step was to get an apprenticeship. Shelley sent out letter after letter. She went through the Yellow Pages, updated her CV and rang around, all to no avail. Unsure if the negative response was because she was a girl, Shelley persevered and gained a trial at HPG. She has not looked back.
In her own words: “Plumbing is just fantastic.”
“The guys are great to work with and I’m learning all the time. There have been some hairy moments, usually to do with guy’s loos but generally, it is sorted. You need to go with the flow and give as good as you get. The guys try to wind me up by saying "I can’t do some things ‘cos I’m a girl’. I give as good as I get as I can get into spaces they can only dream about! It’s all great banter. I Iove being part of the team.”
Hutt Gas and Plumbing is a member of the Master Plumbers, Gasfitters and Drainlayers Association, and was Training Leader of the Year in 2006. This award highlights the exceptional standard of training the company provides to apprentices and the opportunities for employees to advance their careers.
Hutt Gas and Plumbing director Colleen Upton is the company’s training leader. Colleen is president of the Hutt Valley Wairarapa Master Plumbers, a director of the board of NZ Master Plumbers, Gasfitters and Drainlayers, and a director of MasterLink Ltd.
|
|
|