ABSTRACT
This chapter is concerned with the macro contexts in which women’s union participation and leadership takes place. Although the focus of this book is on actors and their beliefs and values, practices and strategies, we believe it is important to situate these against the institutional contexts. As Frege and Kelly (2003: 12) argue, actors both influence and are influenced by institutions; therefore, it is necessary to have an understanding of the structure and character of those institutions in which actors operate. In the light of a long period of union membership decline experienced in many industrialized countries, the industrial relations literature of the last fifteen years or so has been dominated by the union renewal and revitalization debates. Influenced by social movement theory, actors are central to these debates and increasingly women and other so-called minorities are being studied in order to understand their potential role in union revitalization. Revitalization is not simply about replenishing union membership; it is about mobilizing broader participation in union democracy and action. Women are held to be central to revitalization on account of their abundance in many areas of the labour market (particularly growth ones) and therefore their increased significance as a source of union members. The main focus of the chapter is on unions, but women’s position in the labour market influences their propensity to join and participate in unions as well as having some bearing on the leadership positions and roles that they as activists occupy. For this reason we outline the main dimensions of women’s employment before proceeding to examine the structure and character of union movements and the part women play in them. The chapter starts with a brief outline of the global gender gap. Situating our discussion of women and union leadership in this macro gender context is important as it neatly demonstrates that the existence of gender inequalities within the labour market and unions should come as no surprise, but it also suggests that a specific women’s agenda for unionism exists.
