ABSTRACT
This chapter begins with a discussion of approaches to the study of gender differences in union office-holding. The main research findings concerning gender and union office-holding are presented in this chapter. The material is organized under the following headings: gender and distribution of shop stewards; shop stewards and childcare; gender and attitudes to work; gender and job status; the influence of departmental cultures; the election process for shop stewards; views of women's under-representation; 'careers' in the union; gender and attitudes to being a shop steward; gender and industrial action; gender and union facility agreements; gender and shop steward turnover; management harassment of female union officers and stewards; union activism and maintaining a personal life; women at branch officer level; NALGO's attempts to promote women's participation and representation in the union.
