FOR the last quarter of a century Lorretta Stewart has literally had a hand in most of the major construction projects in the western end of the island. The 54-year-old steel worker has cut, bent, and placed the steel used in building hotels and housing developments from Montego Bay to Negril. 

She can proudly reel off the names of projects she’s worked on over the years. The hotels include Ritz-Carlton Montego Bay (now Hyatt), Secrets St James, Riu Negril, Palmyra, and Iberostar. She’s also worked on Porto Bello Estates, in addition to two of the more recent massive housing developments in Montego Bay: Meadows of Irwin and Friendship.

When the Jamaica Observer caught up with her recently, Stewart was on site at the Friendship project, eagerly awaiting the laying of a section of foundation so she could get on with her part of the job.

As Stewart explains, she got into steelwork by chance. She had gone to the Ritz-Carlton hoping to land a job as a mason. All the spots were taken. Luckily, while studying masonry at Adelphi Skills Training Centre, she had taken a teacher’s advice and also done steelwork; so she applied for one of those jobs at the Ritz. She got the job and hasn’t looked back since.

In 2015 she added certification to her years of experience in the industry, earning a National Vocational Qualification of Jamaica (NVQ-J) diploma in General Construction Level 3.

As a subcontractor she’s come a long way from the early days when she was trying to get a foot in the door of what was then a man’s world. Born in Dumfries, St James, Stewart is today a well-known presence on construction sites in the western end of the island. She points out that there are a few other women doing steelwork, but not a lot. That’s why she’s only one of two on the Friendship project.

“Most [of the women who work in construction] do labour work,” she says.

She obviously loves her job but says one of the downsides of working on big projects is the catcalling engaged in by some of her male colleagues. Stewart bristles at inappropriate comments these men throw out to women as they pass by construction sites. “[In the past] I’ve spoken to persons I work with [who engage in this behaviour] but it didn’t go down too well, so I just leave it alone,” she says. However, she has no problem speaking her mind to male colleagues with whom she has a good working relationship. “I will say to them, walk straight!” she tells the Observer. This is a reminder that they need to be faithful to their current partners.

And for co-workers brave enough, over the years, to flirt with the straight-talking Stewart, she has urged them to think of her as a sister. “I tell them let’s just do the work so we can go home,” she says in a no-nonsense voice. She takes it all in stride though, fully recognising that these are just some of the multiple facets of the job.

Years ago, when thinking of a career, Stewart had taken a practical approach instead of simply following the traditional path. She was convinced construction would pay more than roles typically filled by women back then, such as cashiering.

“I thought by doing construction I could earn enough to take care of my family,” she says. She is both mother and father to two sons, 29 and 23 years old, as well as an 18-year-old daughter. She explains that as an experienced subcontractor she has more control, than the average steel worker, over what she earns so she is generally satisfied with her income… but she makes sure to note that there is room for improvement in the salaries being paid.

“[In general] we are a lot more underpaid than we were 25 years ago,” she says.  When she just started out, she adds, the wages were $2,500 per day. Today, they range from that same $2,500 to $4,000 per day. While she had hoped that all three of her children would have joined her in the construction industry, she has always been clear that they should aim for better-paying white-collar jobs. She had high hopes that her older son would have been an engineer, his brother a surveyor and her daughter a construction manager. But both sons are in customer service outside of the construction field and her daughter, who is in her final year of high school, wants to be a teacher. Stewart is just fine with their choices.

Now, she’s wondering if it’s time for her to take a break from the job she’s done for much of her life. She’s in good health, apart from sinuses aggravated by dusty construction sites, but she thinks all the years of hard work will eventually catch up with her. “I’m thinking about retirement because I’m getting older. You don’t feel the load until you put it down,” she says.

But, more importantly, she would like to grant the wish of her sister Joycelyn who died last year. “She told me to do something easier,” says Stewart in a voice suddenly heavy with emotion.

The sadness is in sharp contrast to the lilt in her voice when she speaks of the pleasure her job has given her over the years. “I have an excellent feeling when I think about all the big projects I worked on, because I have a love and passion for steelwork,” she says. “And I feel good when I get compliments from the ‘bigger heads’ when [my work is] compared to what most of the men do.”

There is another reason she likes working on big projects: they make more sense, financially, than smaller ones. “They [clients who hire her for smaller jobs] pay piece by piece so you don’t even see the money,” Stewart explains. However, she has had some positive experiences doing smaller jobs.

A God-fearing woman, she is particularly proud that she’s worked on the wall that surrounds the church she attends and proudly tells the Observer she used a whopping one tonne of steel on a large private home she worked on in her Dumfries community. 

But for right now, Stewart is focused on the Friendship development in St James, ready to add it to the long list of major projects that she’s had a hand in shaping.