ABSTRACT
This chapter shows that the centrality of gender to the construction and reconstruction of work, aims to demonstrate the adaptability of the gendering process, identifies interests specific to women ancillary workers and assesses the development of a group-consciousness around those interests. It considers the representation of the interests within local union organizations, and the extent to which trade unions challenge or reflect and reproduce division among the workforce. The greater the degree of differentiation between men's and women's jobs in the workplace, the more likely was the development of a conflict of interests along sex lines. The chapter argues that the concept of skill is a socially defined concept and one in which gender is a key factor, and explores where men's and women's jobs are notionally on the same skill level, women's jobs will be ranked lower on grading structures.
