ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to develop the argument that there is a fundamental difference of interest between men and women in employment which is related to the nature of the hierarchical labour market that being a market divided by sex. It considers the debate around the nature of the interests of men and women and shows that an historical overview of the development of trade unions and an assessment of the scope and limitations of trade unionism. Individual firms and individual occupations or professions reflect the hierarchical structure of the labour market as a whole. Trade unions played a role in establishing this hierarchical structure, and operate on an assumption of its maintenance. The fundamental difference lies in the hierarchy of labour divided by sex. It follows from this that trade unionism has developed in such a way as to reflect and reproduce that labour market.
