Woman Millwright benefits from union training -North Dakota

[Omaha Steve]

http://sistersinthebrotherhood.blogspot.com/2010/01/woman-millwright-benefits-from-union.html

Union adds training to better partner with industry
By LAUREN DONOVAN Bismarck Tribune | Posted: Sunday, January 17, 2010 2:20 am

CENTER - Michelle Isaak, of Washburn, tips the scale at 110 pounds and works as hard as any man every day.

She's an apprentice millwright, a trade that keeps the cogs of industry turning.

Millwrights install and maintain machines, motors, conveyors and the like. The work is hard. It's greasy. It requires strength, knowledge of hoists and rigs, steel-toed boots and mechanical smarts.

Isaak, 40, said it doesn't hurt to be small, either. She can wedge herself and her hands into small openings where a motor is squeezed into a tight space.

"This is not for everybody, man or woman. I absolutely love it. I've never been prissy. As a little girl, I was never afraid to be dirty. At the end of the day, I'm just black," Isaak said.

A former U.S. Navy mechanic's mate who married and moved to Washburn, she's now a member of the North Central States Regional Council of Carpenters Local 1091 based in Center.

FULL story and photo at link.

[virgogal]

1. God I admire women like this.---I tend to be more of a "girly girl".

Good luck to her.