Labor Profile: Mary Battle Takes Up Challenge at Cement Masons
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)It was all based on a
challenge. "He told me I couldn't do the job, and so I looked at him and asked
that he give me the same chance he gave the guys. That was back in 1982." Mary
Battle has certainly proven she can do the job: after nearly three decades as a
cement mason, Battle was recently unanimously elected as the first female
Business Manager of Operative Plasterers & Cement Masons Local 891.
Plasterers are building craftsmen who apply plaster to interior walls and
ceilings; Cement Masons level, smooth and shape surfaces of freshly poured
concrete. Battle is one of just five women out of the nearly 900 members of
Local 891. "You have to have thick skin to work with the guys," she told Union
City. "They'll look out for you, but you have to pull your weight to earn their
respect." These days, there are more opportunities for women to enter the
trades, and increasing the number of women in Local 891 is one of Battle's top
priorities. Battle's remaining top priorities are the same as a business
manager’s for any construction trades union: work for her members and signed
contracts. With area construction down thanks to the recession, many of Local
891's members are out of work, while some of those on the job have been working
without a contract for the last three years. But just like that challenge thirty
years ago, Battle is seizing the opportunity and projects that by next February
construction will pick up and there will be more than enough work. She
also sees some light at the end of the road for fruitful contract negotiations.
A mother of six—two boys and four girls, Battle lights up at the mention of
softball, cheerfully admitting "I'm a softball fanatic!" She played three times
a week at one point and was a member of four teams, one of which trained at the
South Capitol Street ball park. She plans to begin a co-ed softball team at
Local 891 to build union camaraderie and to spend some quality time with her
members. "The members know that I'm about the Hall and about the union," says
Battle. "I work for them. I'm committed to making a change for the
better."
- report/photo by Saschane M. Stephenson