The recent killing of a 20-year-old tradeswoman in Minnesota has struck a nerve across Canada’s skilled trades community. Amber Czech, a welder, was slain by a male colleague while on a work site.

Statements from labour unions and personal stories from tradeswomen shared recurring themes of harassment, exclusion, unsafe conditions and retaliation for reporting.

This tragedy is not isolated to the United States, and exposes a larger pattern of hostile and unsafe work sites for women and gender-diverse workers.

The timing of Czech’s death has fuelled calls to action. In Canada, Dec. 6 marks the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women, honouring 14 women students murdered in 1989 at École Polytechnique. Preventing gender-based violence is not only a labour issue, but also an education issue.

As a researcher and educator in technological education, I see an opportunity. I help experienced tradespeople become high school teachers. They become certified to teach in one of the 10 broad-based technology subject areas — communications, computers, construction, green industries, hairstyling and esthetics, health care, hospitality and tourism, manufacturing, technological design or transportation.

The culture of industry has an impact on the adults who enter teacher education, and those teachers in turn shape the culture of tomorrow’s shops and labs. For safer workplaces, the work of prevention must start long before anyone steps onto a job site.

Czech’s death reflects painful familiarity that research has documented for decades. Studies across construction, transportation and manufacturing show that women and gender-diverse workers continue to face barriers.

These extend beyond individual incidents, including exclusion from key tasks, minimal

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