3rd female tractor-drivers reunion
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Juuli Pihl, who is living on Saaremaa island in Estonia, is organizing the 3rd national reunion for female tractor-drivers. Also all female truck-drivers and mechanics are invited.

"First we will gather together and have coffee, then we will announce the reunion started and listen to the speeches," explains Juuli, who was driving a tractor for 16 years. "For the lunch we will have a fish soup and what exactly will happen after that, we don't know yet. In the evening the Tehumardi's (local) men-ensemble will perform as well as the local dance-group."

Last year there was 50 people participating the reunion. This year they are waiting for 100 female ex-drivers and mechanics.

In former Soviet Union it was quite common practice, that women were working as tractor or truck drivers or crane operators. There was also female miners and steal workers. That was equality in the Soviet way. The other reason for that was the fact, that lots of men had died in the Second Wold War or were sent to Siberia.

When Eesti Ekspress Newspaper asked from Mrs. Pihl if there was any privileges compared to the male-tractor-drivers, she pointed out, that female tractorists had more work: "Especially on Saturdays and Sundays, but also vacation times the kolkhoz (collective farm) often asked me to come to work. That was because all men were too drunk to drive the tractor."

You can find the news (in Estonian) here:Eesti Ekspress