ABSTRACT
In France, as in many other countries, women have great difficulties in achieving positional power within union structures. Although they now account for more than 40 per cent of the membership in some major unions, the gap between the proportion of women who are trade union members and of those who are senior paid or elected officers remains wide (Contrepois 2006; Silvera 2006. Most of the ‘women and trade unions’ literature has focused on explaining gendered barriers and constraints that prevent women from gaining higher representation in union structures (Briskin 1990; Cockburn 1991; Colgan and Ledwith 1996, 2002; Dorgan and Grieco 1993; Franzway 2000; Kirton and Healy 1999; Munro 1999. However, for the last thirty years, a mix of radical and liberal measures (Jewson and Mason 1986) has been implemented within some French unions, leading to the promotion of a few female leaders, including one female General Secretary, Nicole Notat, who was elected in 1992 by the 2nd major French general union confederation (600,000 members)—Confédération Démocratique Française du Travail (CFDT). In 2010, three women out of nine were part of the CFDT national executive committee (NEC). At first sight, it is possible to explain these exceptional trajectories by the gender equality policy put in place since 1982. 1 But reality is more complex. Following recent developments that put emphasis on women's agency in the union context (Colgan and Ledwith 2002; Kirton 2006b; Moore 2011, this chapter explores the structural, organisational and individual factors that have allowed a growing number of women to become union leaders. More specifically we will examine the interrelationship between internal equality policies for enhancing women's representation and other less explored dimensions such as the influence of organising strategies and internal political battles over union identity shift, and the influence of women's own resources.
