The new year will ring in a new benefit for members of the Laborers International Union of North America, as LIUNA will offer all new mothers in their membership 12 weeks of maternity leave benefits.

Starting Jan. 1, 2025, mothers will be eligible for up to $800 per week of paid leave.

LIUNA joins several other International building trades unions that offer paid maternity leave including the Bricklayers, Painters and Ironworkers.

Brent Booker, LIUNA General President, initially made the announcement in late September during the Tradeswomen Build Nations conference in New Orleans.

“This policy ensures that women will no longer have to choose between being a mother and being a Laborer,” he said. “We’re looking to the future, and we want all of our members – especially our female members – to know that we value them, we value their families, and we’re committed to helping them thrive.”

Booker acknowledged the new maternity leave policy is an effort to bring more women into LIUNA and to better the lives of the union’s current members.

“We know that paid maternity leave is a game-changer,” said Booker. “It’s one piece of a larger puzzle, but an important one. Our goal is to create a future where women in construction have the support they need to thrive, not just on the job, but in their personal lives as well.”

Lisa M. Sabitoni, Executive Director of the Laborers’ Health and Safety Fund of North America, praised the new policy as a critical piece in the larger framework of inclusive workplace practices.

“By providing this maternity leave benefit, LIUNA is not only responding to the immediate needs of working mothers, but also building a culture where women feel supported both professionally and personally,” she said.

The policy aligns LIUNA with recent measures such as the Pregnant Workers’ Fairness Act (PWFA) and the Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers (PUMP) Act, which support the rights of working mothers and promote a family-friendly workplace.

Thanks to Collective Bargaining Agreements, women are paid the same and earn the same benefits as men for doing the same work.

For the Laborers, this includes asbestos remediation and building and highway construction and energy infrastructure construction.

Soon, the union-wide maternity leave plan will give women an additional benefit to better their lives and the lives of their families and give potential members another reason the join the union.

“We all have unique stories of what brought us to our union homes,” Booker told the TWBN attendees. “Some are stories of chance encounters, inspirational stories of escaping domestic violence, heroic stories of being the first woman on a construction job, opening a door to the future that will never be closed again.”

With a booming construction industry that is offering ample employment opportunities and a union with expanding benefits, the Laborers are giving women another reason to consider joining their ranks and making the union the next chapter in their personal story.