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Woman on the Line Has Florida TiesJuly 1, 2005 Sherry Daly is something of an anomaly in the outside utility construction industry. While women increasingly take up the construction trade as inside wiremen, and even the utility trade as linemen, the tough, cowboy atmosphere of outside construction remains dominated by men… with the exception of Daly. At 50, Local 104 member Daly has spent her career in the IBEW crisscrossing the country, chasing good weather, high pay scales and the occasional storm. "I still go to hurricane clean-up," she said. "You have to follow the storm." A Boston native who hates snow and cold weather, Daly’s career allows her to avoid frigid winters, pulling up stakes whenever it suits her and using her skills wherever she lands. A tramp guide, her dog and a mobile home are the only constants in the rootless life of this outside construction lineman. "I love it. It’s in my blood," Daly said. "Even when you’re on vacation, you’re always looking up at the poles. It never leaves you." A turn of fate brought Daly into the IBEW in 1981. At the time, her younger sister, Cindy, was working at a gas station in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where Local 728 linemen stopped to gas up. They encouraged Cindy to sign on as a "white ticket grunt," a new apprentice, through the local. Sherry Daly eventually joined her sister in the program. The sisters were the first two women to graduate from the apprenticeship program at Local 728. The life of a traveling outside lineman had instant appeal to Daly, who had bounced around from job to job before she found the IBEW. She’d worked as a waitress, in a hairdressing salon, and driving a dump truck for a road paving contractor. "For me, line construction was perfect – traveling, being outside and the freedom to be able to move from area to area," said Daly, who said she also recalled considering becoming a flight attendant. But first she had to fight attitudes in a male-dominated industry that had been formed over a 100-year tradition and which was one of the few lines of work women were not entering in ever-greater numbers. Daly and her sister survived it but it was not easy. "A few people were helpful but most people did not want me there," Daly said. "It was man’s trade. To them, it was big, tough, strong linemen. And line men. What was a girl going to do but get in the way?" "She was adamant about completing that program," said Mike Bell, now Orlando Local 222 business manager. "Nobody handed her anything. She did it herself." Daly’s sister, now Cindy Yecker, met a lineman Mike Yecker, a member of Local 1191, West Palm Beach, Fla. and married him. He does the only pole climbing in that family now, Daly said. The job’s physical demands are compounded by Daly’s small frame. At 5 feet 1 inch tall and weighing 110 pounds, she learned early on the importance of using rope and pulleys and the principles of leverage to hoist materials. "My first foreman used to set poles with mules up in the mountains," she said. "If you know how to rig your work, you don’t break your back." Not too long after she topped out of the construction program, Daly transferred her ticket to Local 349 in Miami, where she was sent to do a job for a small contractor who quickly heard about the new crew member at the South Miami jobsite. "He called me up and said ‘What are you trying to do to me?’" Bell said. "’Why are you sending a girl out to my site? She could get hurt. I don’t want the liability.’" Bell suggested the contractor drive a Jeep to the worksite with field glasses and observe Daly on the job. A week later, the contractor reported back to Bell with enthusiastic reports about Daly’s work. "That’s a true story," Bell said. From there, Daly took to the road, eventually acquiring the 35-foot motor home that serves as both her home and her chariot. Through the years, she has worked in Detroit, Chicago, St. Louis, Alabama, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon and Washington. These days, she’s working in Southern California for contractor Pouk and Steinle, setting poles for utility Southern California Edison, where Local 47 business agent Tom Brown snapped her photo for the local’s newsletter, the Union Reporter. "She told me she has her feminine side but she leaves it at home," Brown said. "She’s a good mechanic. She knows the trade." Daly has been on her current job for four months and has been working in California for Local 47 and Vacaville Local 1245 on and off for the past seven years. Last year she worked with helicopters north of Bakersfield to help erect transmission towers. Bell said in his 25 years on staff, he’s seen only around a half dozen women working as outside lineman. The life isn’t for everyone. The work is physically demanding, the hours can be long and travel makes it even more difficult, Bell said. "It’s rigorous and it’s hot and it’s cold and you are away from home a lot," Bell said. "You sometimes have to work seven days a week, 16 hours a day in a storm in treacherous conditions. It’s not easy for every man that comes along. It’s a very good living but it’s not for everyone, male or female." As for Daly, she is twice married (but only once to a lineman) and twice divorced. Her closest companion now is her Stafforsdshire terrier, Bashlin, named for her favorite industry brand of climbing and fall protection equipment. "I bought her on a Saturday and on Monday she was in a bucket truck," Daly said. Daly said she could not imagine a life to which she would be better suited. "You can gain the respect of the crews whether you are a man or a woman by fitting in with the construction line crew culture and doing your job like any other employee," she said. "I would recommend this trade to anyone, man or woman. It’s the best way to earn a living. It’s a true Brotherhood."
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After nearly 25 years on high-wire crews from coast to coast, many people already know of her by the time she lands a new job. "My reputation precedes me," she says. "Everybody knows about me. I’m the only woman I know of that travels across the country. I’m probably the oldest one too."
