The Southeast Women’s Employment Coalition (SWEC, Norman grantee 1983–1986) was founded in 1979 after 40 women from nine Southern states gathered to discuss economic equity for women in the workplace. It grew into a network of 14 community-based organizations united by a commitment to economic opportunity for women. SWEC documented widespread discrimination in the federal highway construction industry, filed two legal complaints with the Office of Federal Contract Compliance and the US Department of Transportation in 1980, and successfully lobbied to amend the Federal Highway Act and Surface Transportation Act, winning new protections for women in construction in 1982. 

As Norman’s funding began in 1983, SWEC assisted in filing a successful class action suit against the Missouri Highways and Transportation Department and launched an investigation into the Department of Transportation hiring practices in 1984. They produced a report profiling how state transportation agencies across the South were — and were not — hiring women. Norman’s grants to SWEC funded the Women’s Opportunity in Road Construction Project in Lexington, KY, and their efforts to train, place, and advocate for women breaking into construction trades across the South.

Tag: Women’s Rights, Workers’ Rights, Economic Justice

Media

• https://www.facingsouth.org/1981/12/southeast-womens-employment-coalition