August 22, 2025
Stop Carpenters Union’s rightward turn
Douglas J. McCarron, General President
United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners
International Headquarters
101 Constitution Ave., NW,
Washington, D.C.
Dear Brother McCarron,
Seattle Radical Women is an independent, socialist feminist women’s leadership organization made up of working women. Some of them, like me, spent or are spending our work lives in the craft trades fighting for equality and respect for women and workers of color. This fight is far from over.
On May 5, 2025, the United Brotherhood of Carpenters (UBC) International sent out a memorandum stating “current executive orders and policies targeting identity-based initiatives put our program ‘Sisters in the Brotherhood’ and its structure at legal risk.” If the UBC plans to restructure and/or rename the Sisters in the Brotherhood, we are very concerned that it will lose its focus on uplifting our carpenter sisters.
On May 15, 2025, UBC International sent directives to all affiliated UBC Regional Councils that they should not support any membership participation in the 2025 Tradeswomen Build Nations conference due to threats by the current federal administration.
The Carpenters should not cave in to racist and misogynist pressure coming from the federal government. It has no right to interfere in the internal affairs of your union or the free speech rights and actions of your members. Be it known that we stand in solidarity with your members and members of other unions who protest these intrusions into the labor community.
The UBC cutting ties with the Tradeswomen Build Nations Conference is a serious mistake. The UBC needs to understand the lives of all women working in the male-dominated field of construction. The misogyny they endure knows no boundaries according to union affiliation. Therefore, women working in the construction trades cannot be divided from each other. For tradeswomen to be safe in their work environments, they need to be able to collaborate and have each other’s backs. When women are harassed, intimidated or sexually assaulted, they not only need each other’s support, they need to be prepared to collectively fight back and stand down the ignorance they experience at work. The UBC’s decision to withdraw from the Tradeswomen Build Nations Conference is destructive to the very lives of its members and all women working in the trades.
We urge you to rescind the UBC’s decision to withdraw support for this year’s Tradeswomen Build Nations Conference. Restore Carpenter Union support for the Sisters in the Brotherhood to attend this conference.
On behalf of Seattle Radical Women,
Megan Cornish
IBEW Local 77 retired member and former Senior Power Dispatcher
30-year Seattle City Light electrical worker