In that time of morning that seems like the dead of night, I quietly get dressed. My six-year-old stirs and I ask her to climb onto my back — which she does while still basically asleep — like a tiny monkey. I leave my apartment unit and carry her downstairs to another unit where my neighbour is waiting.

Settling her into sleep on the couch, I thank her caregiver and rush back upstairs. Then I’m out the door to get to my job as a construction electrician in downtown Toronto.

It's so early and I’m so tired and my day has just begun.

Who Was This System Designed For, And Who Is It Working For?

Why does the school day start at 9 a.m. and end at 3:30 p.m. if no one works those hours? 

Why is there absolutely no before-school care available that matches the hours of the construction industry? How am I supposed to handle the childcare gap between 5 and 9 a.m. when school finally starts? And even though I have some of the earliest hours in the city, it's still a struggle to make it to after-school pickup when I’m done at 2:45 p.m. and have to race through traffic to pick her up in time.

People say it's my fault that I work construction. That construction is not compatible with being a single mom or a primary caregiver in a relationship (I’ve been both), but what industry is? Lawyers work long hours. Doctors and nurses deal with rotating shift work. Customer service workers get random hours that change every week.

It's supposedly industry-specific, but it's everywhere.

Why Don’t You Negotiate Flexible Hours?"

Just as a woman, I’m already in a terribly precarious position at work.

When I show up to a worksite having been dispatched by my union, I feel like Anne of Green Gables, with the foreman silently conveying, "We clearly requested a boy." I have to prove over and over again that I can lift things, that I know electrical, that I’m capable of using power tools — and even then, I'm only sometimes given that opportunity. But I’m never in a position to ask to leave early to pick up my kid from school, or to take the day off because there’s a PA day.

resource; https://www.cbc.ca/parents/learning/view/its-tough-being-a-mom-who-works-in-the-trades