Lack of Philly Mormons in the Building Trades
“At the time of the ground-breaking, Mayor Michael Nutter hailed the project at 18th and Vine Streets for its projected infusion of millions of dollars into the local economy, as well as the 300 construction jobs it would create.
“Church officials contend the worship site is much-needed to serve the Philadelphia area’s estimated 35,000 parishioners.”
. . .
“The temple’s building contracts also give hiring preference to union-affiliated Mormon workers in the Philadelphia region. But none could be found, aside from one carpenter who may join the team when his skills are needed during the project’s later stages.” (link via Millennial Star)
It calls to mind the few years I lived west of Detroit. The common get-to-know-you greeting directed at newcomers was “You work at Ford?” Half question, half statement of probable fact. My elders quorum was full of BYU graduates employed in the auto industry in engineering, finance, or management roles. My own engineering work did not serve the automotive sector, but a home teaching companion, who had a sales function with an axle manufacturer, and I were assigned to a member of the quorum who worked as an electrician in an assembly plant. This man knew of no other men in our ward working blue collar jobs.
Vader
July 30, 2014
John, do you think that’s because the unions create a hostile environment for Mormons, or because Mormons simply aren’t interested in working on an assembly line?
bookslinger
July 30, 2014
In the indy metro area, there are 17 mostly white collar wards, and 2 mostly blue blue collar wards.
Frank Pellett
July 30, 2014
I wonder if anything’s changed in the months since this article was published. Why do we have a link from November, anyway?
Bruce G Charlton
July 30, 2014
In my (small) studies of British Mormons, nearly all were in the top two social classes
http://mormonfertility.blogspot.co.uk/
I think this is related to the high demands placed on active CJCLDS members – if you are conscientious and self-controlled enough to serve a mission, be active, accept callings and live by the Word of Wisdom; and intelligent enough to study, remember, teach, lead and so on – then you are probably also able to qualify for, get and keep a well paid and high status job.
John Mansfield
July 31, 2014
I can think a few things that would contribute. Trade unions in an old city could be hard for an outsider to break into. I’ve seen some of what Bruce Charlton refers to above; I had a small seminary class in Baltimore, eight kids all children of converts or converts themselves, and every one attended a magnet school. I also think a big cause is something I wrote about once (We Want to Live in a Company Town”). I grew up in Las Vegas, a place where Mormons are a native species, and there were plenty of Mormon construction workers. In places where most Mormons moved to get there, they will have moved for professional jobs.
Vader
July 31, 2014
That makes perfect sense, John. I imagine it would not be at all hard to find a ward full of blue-collar Mormons in, say, Ogden.
The same demographics, incidentally, have an effect on Mormon marriage patterns. Since Mormon men are somewhat more likely than Mormon women to move to non-Mormon areas for employment or education, we see a distinct imbalance between single Mormons, with many more single women in Utah, and more single men than single women in some areas distant from Utah. Based on a talk I heard at the time, and from my own experience sojourning there, it would seem that southern California was such a place in the 1990s, and it may well still be today.
h_nu
July 31, 2014
@Vader,
From my own anecdotal experience…
Some girls thought they had to wait in Utah until they got married, while the professional single males went out in preparation of good career. The smart young women didn’t put their lives on hold, left Utah, and went and found some enterprising young men. At least, that’s what happened in my case.