“We owe it to her name, to her honor and to all of us to act"

Washington, D.C. (Nov. 21, 2025) — On Nov. 10, Amber Czech was living the promise of a career as a welder in the construction trades. On Nov. 11, a co-worker on her Minnesota jobsite allegedly used a sledgehammer to brutally end her life at the age of 20.

When a young tradeswoman’s future is so violently crushed, we must look to the criminal justice system to do its job — but as brothers and sisters in the construction trades we must also do much, much more.

A myriad of risks exists on jobsites. Just as we work to mitigate those risks with training and workers’ rights on the job, we must work to eliminate threats that arise from a culture of harassment. According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, 41 percent of women in the construction trades experience harassment. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, three-fourths of workers who experience violence on the job are women.

We must not only condemn the violence that took Czech’s life, but also the attitudes and behavior that normalize an atmosphere of fear for too many construction craftswomen. When signs of a dangerous or troubled individual emerge, we must have the mechanisms to intervene.

At LIUNA, solidarity is a verb, and we must speak up and speak out to protect each other.

LIUNA is committed to safety for all workers. If you see something, say something. As we learn more about what could have been done to prevent Amber Czech’s tragic, undeserved death, we owe it to her name, to her honor, and to all of us to act.

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The half-million members of LIUNA – the Laborers’ International Union of North America – are on the forefront of the
construction industry, a powerhouse of workers who are proud to build the U.S. and Canada.