Posted on 03/09/2016 7:07:45 AM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
Dianna Montague made history when she became the first African-American woman to join the Philadelphia’s Iron Workers Union Local 405.
As the chairman and CEO of Iron Lady Enterprises Inc., Montague holds the distinction of being one of the only female ironworkers in Philadelphia. She is a certified master welder, rigger and rod setter.
Montague is now working on one of the nation’s largest infrastructure projects, the $3.9 billion New NY Bridge. It will replace the Tappan Zee Bridge in Hudson Valley, N.Y., and is expected to be completed in 2018.
Her company is responsible for land-based rebar fabrication and installation on both sides of the bridge. The project is being built by Tappan Zee Constructors, a consortium of companies.
“It’s truly an honor to work on this project,” said Montague, who is a native of North Philadelphia. “When I graduated from high school, I dreamed of working with my hands and building the skyline I saw from my bedroom window.”
Montague decided early on that she was not interested in pursuing the job opportunities that were typically open to women.
“I felt like I always wanted to make the same amount of money that men made, so I sought out the type of job where I could do that and I was introduced to welding,” she said.
After graduating from Strawberry Mansion High School in 1985, Montague attended trade school to become a certified welder.
For more than 20 years, she served as a master welder in building and repairing ships for the U.S. Navy at the Philadelphia Navy Yard in Pennsylvania and the Norfolk Naval Ship Yard in Virginia, the San Diego Naval Ship Yard in California and Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.
“This is just a gift from God and I was meant to do this,” Montague said in regard to her work in the trades.
The work is not just a male domain, She wanted to show that women could do the work.
“I don’t consider this a man’s job. I’ve been doing it too long,” she said in wanting to show that women were just as capable .
To fulfill her longtime goal of becoming an ironworker, Montague signed up for Iron Workers Union Local 405’s three-year apprenticeship program in 2007. In January 2011, she became the first female in the history of Philadelphia to graduate as a journeyman from the union.
After launching Iron Lady Enterprises in 2011, Montague has managed to make significant inroads in a male-dominated field. Her company has worked on major construction projects throughout the years including the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania’s South Pavilion Extension project, the Wegman’s supermarket in Montgomeryville, Pa., and the Interstate 95 Cottman Avenue Interchange Improvement Project. It recently won a contract with the Delaware River Port Authority to do repair work on the Benjamin Franklin Bridge.
“We only have five years in the business so we’re doing good for the amount of time that we’ve been in business,” Montague said.
However, she acknowledged the lack of significant opportunities for minority contractors in Philadelphia. To that end, she has successfully expanded her operations into the New York market.
Montague recently completed three NYC Metropolitan Transit Authority projects, including the replacement of all toll lanes on the Whitestone Bridge, the rehab of the East New York Yukon Brooklyn Bus Depot and the Henry Hudson Bridge retaining wall fortification.
Iron Lady Enterprises will soon start construction of a major storm mitigation project that will involve the protection of 25 miles of track wiring from Croton-Harmon Station to Yankee Stadium and the renovation of 97 train station platforms for the MTA Metro North Railroad in New York City area.
While she’s worked hard to ensure that her company was successful, Montague admits that it has been a lonely road. She would like to see more women in her area of construction.
“We have to find the ones who have a passion for it,” Montague said.
She has also launched a nonprofit construction training initiative titled From the Streets to Our Highways. The initiative focuses on taking young people off the streets and out of jails and prisons and training them in the skilled trades of ironworking and welding so they can work rebuilding America’s aging infrastructure.
The lack of copy editors is apparent.
What do her peers have to say about her? Did she pull her own weight on the job? If so, she has my respect.
might be more impressive had there not been minority set-asides in place...
Sure, but the only reason she is getting a contract for a government infrastructure project is because her company has the double advantage of being owned by a minority and a woman.
Looked her up and found her website. Actually she’s pretty impressive. http://www.ironladyenterprises.com/
Yes, it would, but labor unions and management have a history of keeping woman and minorities out of the trades. I grew up in industrial Michigan and saw it first-hand. The military was no different.
I don’t think ironworkers would cut her much slack. She’s good on her own. p.s., my cousin was a female welder at Electric boat in Groton. She did just fine.
A: In 1985, I was fortunate to land a job welding and building ships for the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Navy down at the Philadelphia Navy Yard. My work there spanned more than 20 years and took me to such faraway places as Pearl Harbor, HI, the Norfolk Naval Ship Yard, the San Diego Navy Yard, and even over to Europe. I helped to build the U.S.S. Kittyhawk and other major ships. I wanted to do more than weld, and my burning desire was still be a bona fide iron worker, building buildings, bridges, highways, stadiums, and so on, working with the iron rods used in concrete reinforcement, also known as rebar. Fulfilling that dream required me to become a member of the Philadelphia Iron Workers Union Local # 405. I joined the union back in 2007.
“This woman appears to have earned her way and have “balls” if you read her bio info.”
That does nothing to change the fact that as a minority and female owned business, her company is rewarded with a double advantage in obtaining government contracts. She did NOT earn THAT advantage, it was given to her by liberal politicians.
Ping!
What is the matter with that sentence, according to you?
Really? And you know this how?
Had it occurred to you that maybe she actually can do the work, and that's why she is still in business after 5 years, in New York as well as Philly?
‘one of the only’ isn’t proper. Only signifies one. Proper usage would be ‘one of the few’. Trying to make her sound unique while saying she isn’t. Typical tool of a propagandist.
Lots of minority set asides in those cities. Making a good living shouldn’t be hard for a two pointer.
Thanks. Good catch.
“Really? And you know this how?”
Because that’s how government contracts work.
“Had it occurred to you that maybe she actually can do the work, and that’s why she is still in business after 5 years, in New York as well as Philly?”
Had it occurred to you that nobody just becomes an ironworker and in 5 years is getting massive government contracts, unless they have the advantage of minority set asides? Doesn’t matter how good you are, there are going to be guys who have done that work for decades who are much better. The only way you could get a leg up over them is if the law tilts the table in your favor.
I will say this to you. In real life I have a name like my screen name here, that sounds to many people like a man’s name. There were many times in my pre-Internet career when I was called in to bid on projects based on my résumé, or on samples of my work sent to a prospective client, only to have the prospect express shock or dismay when I arrived and they saw I am a woman. They had believed my work and track record qualified me; then their biases took over before I could even sit down. Sometimes I was able to convince them to hire me anyway.
This was before the days of minority set-asides for women. They started to become widespread in the mid-80s, a couple of years before the first time I bid on a city contract. At my second interview with a panel of interviewers for that project, I was asked whether I had a minority business certification that they could claim. I told them no, and stated that I wanted to be hired solely because they believed I was the best person for the job.
I was hired, and the project succeeded very well, was written about in the (major) city newspaper, and polished up the career of the agency chief, who used the project as an interview point when he was soon hired away to solve a crisis in another large city. These are indications that I am good at what I do.
During the project, an agency bureaucrat asked me to please fill out certification papers so he could claim me. I did agree at that point; but he was not the one who had decided to hire me. The agency commissioner had decided based on my interview with him and his deputies.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.