When Elaine McGuire reached the top of the Limerick Nuclear Power Plant’s massive cooling tower in 2021, she knew it wasn’t just another day at work. She was the first female electrician to climb the 500-plus feet it took to get there. It was a feat few have accomplished. It’s also symbolic of her career in the trades.
When McGuire, a member of Philadelphia Local 98, was coming up, there were very few women and even fewer women of color. But the industry has made some strides in the past 25 years, and she’s one of the reasons.
“She’s changed the game,” Local 98 Business Manager Mark Lynch said. “I couldn’t be prouder of her.”
Before Local 98 had an official IBEW Women’s Committee or Electrical Workers Minority Caucus chapter, McGuire was starting her own women’s group. Women in The Trades, or WITT, was a support system for women of all colors, ethnicities and trades.
“During my years as an apprentice, we didn’t have an official women’s group,” McGuire said. “I was very happy when our Women’s Committee got its letter of recognition.”
In addition to the IBEW Women’s Committee, which was chartered in 2024, other advancements have included a lactation room for breastfeeding apprentices. There are also more women stewards on the jobs, as well as female foremen.
“For so long, women were told ‘No’ or ‘That’s not for you,’ but now we take the initiative to go after these roles,” said McGuire, who now works as a business representative and coordinator for Local 98’s Rosie’s Girls program.
Launched in 2022, the pre-apprenticeship introduces girls in grades 9 through 12 to the industry. So far, five Rosie’s Girls have been accepted into Local 98’s formal apprenticeship.
“The girls look up to her,” Lynch said. “They’re comfortable talking with her, and she can reach them at an age when they might still be figuring out what they want to do after high school.”
When it comes to diversity and inclusion, McGuire looks to the EWMC mission statement, which says members should promote equal opportunity and employment for women and minorities at all levels of the IBEW.
“Diversity and inclusion means that your local should look like the city you live in and the construction sites where you work. It should look like the people you see in your communities, in your supermarkets, in your churches,” she said. “I think when it comes to diversity and inclusion in the trades, the goal should be that it’s no longer a subject because we’re all there already, that we’re all represented equally.”
Philadelphia Local 98 member Elaine McGuire has been blazing trails for women and people of color since her days as an apprentice 25 years ago.
McGuire also noted that groups like the EWMC and Women’s Committees support the union by fostering leadership development and helping to organize minorities and women. That success, she said, comes in large part from buy-in at the top.
“Business Manager Lynch has been an advocate for the EWMC and Women’s Committee from the start,” McGuire said. “That makes a huge impact on our success.”
McGuire’s advice for members of the Women’s Committee and EWMC often comes down to being persistent and not underestimating yourself.
“Don’t take no for an answer,” she said. “If one door gets shut because of the color of your skin or your gender, then take a breath and open it back up.”
By bringing more diversity into the union, McGuire said, more people can experience the benefits that go beyond wages and pensions. They become part of the family.
“We’re at each other’s weddings, we’re there then when children are being born or adopted, and we can all watch them grow up. And we’re there in the hard times, too. That’s the type of relationship you have in our union,” said McGuire, who studied theology and is an associate minister at her church. “It’s a union that I am proud to be a part of.”
