Building society executive Julie Muller had one-year-old twins when she moved from Southern California to Washington state. Around the same time, she met a woman with young children at an industry event and started talking about being a working mom.
Julie Muller
Permission granted by SMACNA Western Washington
“This young woman said the only way she could continue to breastfeed her baby was to get into her car parked at work, cover the windows with sheets and use the cigarette lighter to power her breast pump,” she said. said Muller, in western Washington. executive vice president of the National Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors Association. “I immediately realized the inequality and that it was much easier for me to go back to work in an office job than it was for her, working on a construction site.”
The conversation led Muller to spearhead a solution through a partnership between SMACNA and the International Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Association. While at an airport, Muller discovered lactation pods: small, discreet rooms set up with secure access for the privacy and comfort of nursing mothers.
“I immediately thought about how they could be used for women in construction,” she said in a press release shared with Construction Dive. Because current models were not suitable for outdoor use, Muller found a company, Portable Trailer Products in Riverside, California, that could manufacture outdoor-ready pods. She approached the Women’s Committees of SMACNA Western Washington and SMART Local 66 for support.
SMACNA and SMART agreed to fund the initiative, and the first two outdoor breastfeeding pods were delivered to SMART Local 66 training facilities in Everett, Wash., and DuPont, Wash., this summer.
BOMBA law in force
Pods are similar to a Porta potty, but larger, weatherproof and accessed via remote keyless locks.
The inside of a nursing pod.
Permission granted by SMACNA Western Washington
“They have a seating area, sink, cleaning supplies, solar plugs for equipment, a refrigerator to store milk, air conditioning and Wi-Fi,” said SMART Local 66 Women’s Committee President Tammy Meyer. Pods can be trailered to any job site or large shop in the Puget Sound area.
Nursing rooms or pods are frequently used in offices university campuses i on military bases to give new mothers the privacy to express breast milk, an action that is covered by the federal PUMP Act for Nursing Mothers that went into effect late last year. A second part of the law that allows workers to sue their employers if they infringe went into effect at the end of April.
Under the PUMP Act, most nursing employees are entitled to reasonable rest time and a place, other than a bathroom, that is shielded from view and free from intrusion to express breast milk during work according to the Department of Labor. This right is available up to one year after the child’s birth.
All employers covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act must comply with the regulations. Some state laws offer other protections, such as compensatory time off or time to express milk beyond one year after a child is born.
Meyer said having this product available and discreetly in place eliminates the awkward conversation in the workplace about “What do we do with it?”
“Everything is set up and ready to go,” he said. “And our sisters will know that they are cared for and that they are valuable members of the team.”
