ABSTRACT
The scene for American and British trade union leaders has been set. The women who are the key subjects of this book were introduced in Chapter 1 (this volume).We now begin the analysis of the women’s experiences and lives. Overall we explored a wide range of themes that encouraged the women’s reflection on personal histories of union activism: (a) the nature of union work; (b) attitudes towards unions and their policies and practices; (c) perceptions about union work—costs and opportunities; (d) impact of union involvement on home life and vice versa; (e) being a woman activist/leader; (f) views on unions’ gender equality strategies; (g) views on union leadership in an everyday and a conceptual sense. The focus groups concentrated on two main themes: being a woman union activist/leader and views on unions’ gender equality strategies. This chapter begins the book’s analysis of union women’s experiences and lives; it does this by exploring first the routes women take to union leadership and the work they do, and second the interface between the women’s home-work lives and the barriers and opportunities they face. Chapters 5–9 (this volume) explore the remaining themes.
