FEMALE MASON desperate for job
Despite being a mason for more than 25 years, Alvina Hannah says she has been forced to depend on the kindness of others as she has been unable to get a job.
Hannah, a mother of two, said she has been unable to land a job for the last two months, despite having a skill that is in high demand.
“A borrow mi afi a borrow money fi survive, and mi caah live like this, mi kids dem caah live like this,” Hannah told THE STAR, adding that her children’s father died over 10 years ago and she is their only means of support.
“A two months now mi nuh work and mi kids them have exam and caah guh school. Mi willing to do the work enuh, but mi can’t get any. Right now a sell mi a think ‘bout to sell some stuff but mi not even have the money to buy the things to sell,” Hannah explained.
“Mi just want a work mi nuh need nuh handout mi willing fi work, all mi want is for mi kids dem to alright and nuh afi a stop from school because mi nuh have nuh money to send them,” Hannah said.
The skilled worker, who followed the footsteps of her father and grandfather and became a mason, was featured in this newspaper five years ago where she spoke about her love for construction.
“I love mason work. I did sewing, I did hairdressing, but those was not my calling. Now I do block, I do doorjam, windowjam, flashing, granite ceiling, everything in mason,” she said.
Fast-forward five years, and Hannah is finding it difficult to sustain herself and her family through her craft. She also told THE STAR that the main reason she has been unable to work for the past two months is due to gender discrimination.
“Nuff time mi go on site and ask for work as the only woman, because sometimes I have to walk and look for work, and when I ask I get turned away, even when every other man get the work. I even go on a job the other day and the boss tell mi straight him not hiring no woman,” Hannah said,
pointing out that even other women are reluctant to hire her.
“Some weeks ago mi guh up a this lady, she seh she want her wall to splash. When mi go, because she see is a woman, she look pan mi and she a woman! And then she just seh ‘Alright, I’ll buy the material and call yuh back’. But all now she cyah call mi,” she said.
The 51-year-old also told THE STAR that as a woman working in a male-dominated field, when she does get jobs she is not treated as an equal by her male counterparts.
“Sometimes the man dem bad mind mi because me faster than them or mi neater than them, suh when mi guh pan the site them, mi get a lot a fight from them,” Hannah explained. She said that she has grown frustrated with the discrimination, and even though masonry is her only skill, she has considered giving up the trade.
Past president of the Incorporated Masterbuilders Association, Carvel Stewart, told THE STAR that although he has never seen discrimination in the field, he is aware that some employers may be reluctant to hire women.
“Masonry involves the laying of blocks, mixing of concrete and mortar and rendering. So the men may believe that the laying of blocks is too heavy for the females,” Stewart theorised, adding that despite one’s perception, women should be given a fair chance to prove themselves.
“I don’t think it’s a men against women thing. It could be that whomever she had applied to thinks that she wasn’t strong enough physically to undertake that work, which is understandable. But they should then find out which area of it she’s best at,” Stewart said.