Metal already speaks with a female accent

There are those born in 1971, like Laura Iglesias, — who knew the days when there were no women’s bathrooms or lockers in old Astana and were authentic Rare avis-, and there are also those who just a few days ago turned their first quarter of a century. IN Navantia Ferrol are still a minority, but they step firmly in times of change. With a welding gun in hand, planning jobs or taking care of the health of their colleagues, an army of employees is growing in the factory. Predominantly masculine, metal is increasingly speaking in a feminine tone. Some companies, as Maessa Naval, count in old Bazán with nine workers —out of a total workforce of 214—, most with a long history in this segment. All agree that, at a time like the present, with the frigate program — the F-110 — creating workloads for a decade and providing little-known stability in the sector, it is more than ever necessary to make visible the opportunities offered by the large number of unions for women, and break with the ignorance that still exists in this regard.

This is not the case for Mariana Milhace, a 50-year-old Romanian who has lived in Cedeira for more than 16 years. At a young age, he began his studies at a chemical institute, but due to a lack of work, he transferred to the course without knowing its content. It was welding. Not only did he love the trade, but after completing his internship, he signed a contract for five years of work, in a subsidiary company of the refinery. After landing in the region — his sister lived in Pedroso — he settled in Cedeira and, after overcoming many difficulties, got a job in Eymosa. When this company from Nar closed its doors, she was unemployed, and she still remembers how they reluctantly accepted her resume after they replied that she had decided to work as a welder. To came to Maessa. She declares that she is “delighted” with her work at the shipyard and confirms that she is treated very well “from those at the top of everything to the last colleague”.

According to Laura Iglesias is in front of the company in Navantia Ferrol.. Hardened by a thousand ups and downs of the navy, like dozens of colleagues, she was forced to pack her suitcase more than once. Working on the F-110 allowed him to return to Ferrol from Cartagena, where he had to go when orders failed in the estuary. This 52-year-old woman from Cedeiras started her idyll with the sector in 1995, in old Astana, working in an auxiliary company. There were three women on the floor with her. “It was assumed that if you studied marine technical engineering like I did that you were meant to design on a computer.” But she wanted action, a “performance”, and so she continues dressed in work clothes, with a helmet and glasses. since 2001 belongs to Maess staff, and has seen a “brutal evolution” in the inclusion of women, although it encourages young women to join a sector that has many years of work ahead of it. “Let the labels be removed; “Not because you are a woman, you will not be a worse welder or fitter than a man,” he emphasizes.

“Options for everyone”

“The options are the same for everyone,” confirms Victoria Udaondo, a 44-year-old from Ares and a company staff member since 2004. Her professional career began “here, channeling gas, in the industrial branch.” At the head of the technical department, among other things, he is responsible for auxiliary services, personnel and control of working hours. She remembers that when she started, “we were just two women and four boys in the office, although as time went on more and more were included.” María Torres, 50, from Ferrol, studied chemistry, but in 2002 she joined Laura’s team in Astana, in the quality department. The ups and downs of the Navy led him to work for other companies, outside and inside the shipyard, and also in other trades, such as piping. As a quality manager, she recalls that in the beginning, “except for two or three construction managers, the other women were preventive technicians”.

Betty Núñez, 40 years old from Pontevedra, works in the administration department, although she supports quality, production and procurement, who joined the company’s team in Ferrol at the end of the year, although she has been with the company since 2017. He admits the complexity of the task with a group with many young people “who have to learn to work”, but also with major changes in the shipyard at the process level.

Vanessa Álvarez’s first contact with a naval ship from Leon was, already working in Maessa, in the Gijón shipyard. “I really liked it,” he recalls. In 2008, he ended up in Ferrol, although subsequent downturns in the sector took him to other cities such as As Pontes, Vigo or the Canary Islands. “Send me to Ferrol,” he asked his boss when the F-110 program was launched, in which he deals with preventive tasks. Like her fellow technicians, she loves being able to combine “paperwork with work.”

Keep learning

Last August, Lucía Villares, a 46-year-old from Ferrol, became part of the Maessa Naval staff at the factory. He came from a different sector, but “always combining work with learning”, and thanks to his education, the door to employment in the shipyard opened for him. Currently continuing her studies, she also deals with issues such as equality, and believes that it is very important to “make visible” the inclusion of women in masculinized sectors.

Maite Novo, a 45-year-old resident of Moeche, has been in the Navy since 2005, after retraining. As a quality technician —After working in various companies, he joined Maessi—, assures that field assignments are “what we all love.” Although she admits it’s “not a rosy job,” she encourages young women to join metal: “There’s a very wide variety of positions.”

Marina, 25 years old: “They accepted me well, they treat me like a daughter here”

The youngest in the group is Marina Fuster. Mallorquina, 25, after studying marine engineering in Cádiz and a master’s degree in Barcelona, ​​hardly had time to improve his English in Ireland when he received an offer from Maess Naval toAs Laura Iglesias explains, “I needed someone to plan with.” Marina thought to direct her professional career towards the design of yachts, but she declares that she is very satisfied with this turn in which her life and work on military ships started. «I really like what I do, I didn’t want to sit at the computer all the time. I talk to other colleagues who broke up with me and it doesn’t happen to them like it did to me. They accepted me very well in Ferrol and treat me like a daughter,” she says.