Too dirty for a woman

In Labrador City, Newfoundland, women have been hired by the Iron Ore Company as truck drivers, engineers, laborers, geologists, warehouse workers, machinists, and mechanics. Living in a company town, they are pioneers in their own community. The women talk about their non-traditional jobs, their new feelings of independence, and how their families’ lives have been affected. One of the consequences is that husbands now share household chores. There are, however, obstacles to be overcome before women can apply for a job, such as the scarcity of day care facilities and a lack of public transportation. Strong visuals show women at work driving a 130-tonne truck, surveying a blast pattern for a drill, or acting as the first female foreman, alias foreperson.