ABSTRACT
The last chapter revealed the complexity of wom en’s employment even in advanced, mass production firms. In contrast to accounts based on the single them e of male dom inance in a deskilled, tighdy controlled labour process, it showed how wom en’s employment was influenced by unstable markets, the variable nature of engineering production and a continuing need for a relatively experienced, versatile m anual workforce. This chapter will consider disputes and negotiations between employers and unions as a further factor in fluencing how women engineering workers were employed. No other industry in which women worked had such an elaborate and wellestablished collective bargaining structure. What role did it play in shaping wom en’s work and pay?
