SUGAR LAND, Texas /PRNewswire/ -- Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Iron Workers (IW) General President Eric Dean was named one of the 2017 ENR Top 25 Newsmakers for his role in establishing a groundbreaking paid maternity leave program. The IW employer-ironworker partnership IMPACT announced the groundbreaking move at its annual conference last year. The program is the first of its kind in the building trades and provides qualified pregnant ironworkers up to six months of paid leave and up to six weeks postpartum.
The story of an ironworker woman who had miscarried due to physically demanding work during pregnancy inspired Eric Dean to work with the contractor Co-Chair of IMPACT and CEO of Ben Hur Construction, Bill Brown, to introduce a paid maternity leave program. "When Eric Dean heard the ironworker woman's story at the Women Build Nations conference, he took immediate action not only to keep the ironworker women safe during pregnancy, but also to give them time after birth to take care of their babies," said IW General Organizer Safety/Diversity Vicki O'Leary.
The IW leadership said it hopes that the program will not only keep ironworker women safe but also improve retention. It's an adjunct to the IMPACT Off-the-Job Accident program, which provides financial support for ironworkers while recovering from an injury that occurred off the job site.
"We are very proud to be an agent of change in the industry," said Eric Dean. "It's about time we make diversity and inclusion a priority. The maternity leave program was a big step for ironworker women but we are now exploring other initiatives to improve diversity and retention."
"It's an investment because we want our well-trained ironworker women to come back to work after pregnancy," says Bill Brown.
The program will be announced at the 2018 North American Iron Workers/IMPACT Conference at Disney's Coronado Springs Resort in Orlando, FL, Feb 11 - 14, 2018 (bit.ly/2018IMPACTConference). 2017 ENR Top 25 Newsmakers will be honored at a New York City gala in April.