Medcalf: Slaying of Minnesota woman welder highlights need for safe worksites

Vicki O’Leary, who worked in construction for more than 30 years, always kept her guard up on jobsites.

“For us, the most dangerous time probably was having to go to the bathroom,” she said, explaining that the women’s port-a-potties generally were located across the jobsite. “I am safer within my own trade to stay with my people than I am to have to cross the whole jobsite to go to the bathroom.”

It’s a trepidation she recalled when she read about Amber Czech, a 20-year-old welder from Hutchinson, Minn., who was killed in November at a Wright County workshop. Co-worker David Bruce DeLong was charged with first-degree, premeditated murder and is awaiting trial.

“I was devastated and angry. It just hurt my soul,” O’Leary said of Czech’s death. “We see her as a sister and a young, young sister that was just starting out, and I was just angry.” O’Leary is general organizer and director of diversity at the Ironworkers International Union and founder of the Be That One Guy campaign — a training program to combat harassment in workplaces.

Czech’s story, unfortunately, did not surprise O’Leary and others who’ve worked in those environments. After her death, women across the construction industry told their stories – stories that highlighted the danger some of them have felt on jobsites and during encounters with male co-workers. That doesn’t mean that all men in the trades are worthy of suspicion, but women in the trades are the people who are truly vulnerable, the ones who should be centered. They often navigate interactions with men that can put them in harm’s way.

Women accounted for just 4.3% of trades workers in America in 2024, according to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research. The numbers alone can lead to potentially unsafe situations if the men on those job sites don’t work to create safe environments for all.

“Our union has long treated harassment and threatening behavior as a safety hazard that endangers everyone,” the Ironworkers International Union said in a statement issued after Czech was killed. “That will remain true. We extend our heartfelt condolences to [Czech’s] family, friends, and everyone whose lives she touched. In honoring her memory, we reaffirm our commitment to fostering workplaces where all workers feel secure, valued, and respected. Let this tragedy strengthen our resolve to advocate for stronger protections, comprehensive support systems, and a culture of zero tolerance for violence or discrimination in any form.”

A decade ago, I thought the worst thing that could happen to my daughters would involve an encounter with the forces of racism and discrimination and that those battles would alter their lives. I prepped them for the aftermath of those realities and the effect of the anger and resentment the brunt of hatred can breed.

As they’ve aged, however, my concerns have shifted. I understand that the way they look could complicate their journeys in whatever endeavors they pursue. But I am more worried now about the men they’ll meet, the ones they’ll befriend, the ones who might work near them one day – and the men they’ll have to reject, create boundaries with and potentially protect themselves against at a workplace or elsewhere.

We don’t have all the details of the interactions between Czech and DeLong, but according to police, he said he did not like her and had been “planning to kill her."

I don’t know if Czech told others about DeLong and any concerns she may have had about him. I also don’t know if Czech felt compelled to stay quiet, like other women in her industry, for fear of retribution or retaliation.

That possible fear is why O’Leary created the “Be That One Guy” campaign, which began after a young apprentice in California was killed by a co-worker in 2017 after the offender had allegedly harassed her over a lengthy period. The goal of the campaign is to encourage more men in the trades to teach other men “about the domino effect of harassment and understand their own ability to transition from a bystander to an upstander,” according to the campaign’s website. O’Leary said there are a multitude of men in construction who have fought to create healthier cultures on their jobsites. They have challenged those who’ve violated boundaries with co-workers.