Policy & Advocacy

2025 State Policy Agenda

Written by Christina Timmins on March 1, 2025.

Chicago Women in Trades (CWIT) has a history of more than 40 years devoted to addressing workforce equity in the construction trades by increasing the number of women prepared to compete for and succeed in apprenticeships and non-traditional employment through our direct service training programs. We also improve women’s opportunities to enter and remain in these occupations through technical assistance and advocacy initiatives.

With less than 5% of construction trade jobs held by women in Illinois, champions in the General Assembly are critical to advancing our work.

Illinois, through the committed work of the General Assembly in collaboration with Governor Pritzker, has created first-in-the-nation policies and investments to ensure equal access to opportunities in the union construction trades, and to increase gender and racial equity in good jobs that create career pathways to economic security.

In this moment of unprecedented attacks from the Trump Administration on the progress that has been made towards equity and inclusion, the Governor and the General Assembly must support and strengthen existing laws and funding streams to ensure that good jobs remain available to every Illinoisan, and our work sites remain safe for all workers.

EEOC: Promising Practices for Preventing Harassment in the Construction Industry

Written by Christina Timmins on June 18, 2024.

This document identifies promising practices for industry leaders to help prevent and address harassment in the construction industry. It recommends that general contractors take on a coordination and leadership role on the construction worksite.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is the primary federal agency charged by Congress with enforcing the nation’s workplace civil rights laws. The EEOC is responsible for enforcing federal laws that make it illegal to discriminate against a job applicant or an employee because of race, color, religion, sex (including gender identity, sexual orientation, and pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic information. The EEOC’s mission is to prevent and remedy unlawful employment discrimination—including harassment and retaliation—and advance equal employment opportunity for all through education and outreach, technical assistance, and enforcement.

This document draws from and builds upon the EEOC’s existing resources on workplace harassment, including the 2024 Enforcement Guidance on Harassment in the Workplace, the 2016 Report of the Co-Chairs of the Select Task Force on the Study of Harassment in the Workplace (“the Co-Chair Task Force Report”), and subsequent companion documents on promising practices. The practices discussed in this document may assist covered entities in meeting their legal obligations to maintain harassment-free workplaces and remedy harassment if it arises, which will in turn promote safety on the job.