1st Edition

Gender and Leadership in Unions

By Gill Kirton, Geraldine Healy Copyright 2013
    304 Pages
    by Routledge

    304 Pages
    by Routledge

    Reflecting the increased attention to gender and women in the field of employment relations, there is now a growing international literature on women and trade unions. The interest in women as trade unionists arises partly from the fact that women comprise 40 percent of trade union membership in the USA and over 50 percent in the UK. Further, despite considerable overall union membership decline in both the UK and USA, more women than men are joining unions in both countries. Recognition of the importance of women to the survival and revival of trade union movements has in many cases produced an unprecedented commitment to equality and inclusion at the highest level. Yet the challenge is to ensure that this commitment is translated to action and improves the experience of women in their union and in their workplace.

    Gender and Leadership in Trade Unions explores and evaluates the similarities and differences in equality strategies pursued by unions in the US and the UK. It assesses the conditions experienced by women union members and how these impact on their leadership, both potential and actual. Women have made gains in both countries within union leadership and decision-making structures, however, climbing the ladder to leadership positions remains far from a smooth process. In the trade union context, women face multiple barriers that resonate with the barriers facing aspiring women leaders in other organizational contexts, including the gendered division of domestic work; the organization and nature of women’s work; the organization and nature of trade union work and the masculine culture of trade unions. The discussion of women trade union leaders is situated more broadly within debates on governance, leadership and democracy within social justice activism.

    1. Introduction Geraldine Healy and Gill Kirton  2. Gender, work and trade unionism in comparative context Gill Kirton, Geraldine Healy, Sally Alvarez and Risa Lieberwitz  3. Gender, union democracy and leadership Gill Kirton and Geraldine Healy  4. Women union leaders: influences routes, barriers and enablements Geraldine Healy and Risa Lieberwitz  5. Power, empowerment and women’s leadership discourses Gill Kirton and Risa Lieberwitz  6. Tales from the top – Senior women union leaders Sally Alvarez, Risa Lieberwitz and Gill Kirton  7. Women working towards transformation Geraldine Healy and Mary Gatta  8. A woman’s place – Women’s separate organizing in unions Heather McKay and Gill Kirton  9. Developing women leaders in a globalized context Gill Kirton and Mary Gatta  10. Conclusions – Challenges from inside and outside the union Geraldine Healy and Gill Kirton

    Biography

    Gill Kirton is Reader in Employment Relations in the School of Business and Management, Queen Mary, University of London, UK.

    Geraldine Healy is Professor of Employment Relations, Centre for Research in Equality and Diversity, School of Business and Management, Queen Mary, University of London, UK.