ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on national union developments in regard to homeworking, equal pay, and representation within unions after first commenting on the changing position of women in the labour market after 1945. British trade unionism slowly, hesitantly and often very reluctantly began to come to terms with some of the requirements and growing expectations of women workers in the third quarter of the twentieth century. In the case of trade unionists, the jolts included increasing proportions of female members amidst a rising percentage of women in the labour force and, after 1979, declining overall memberships as well as an increasingly hostile political climate. Trade union interest in issues of special importance to their women members was not notably greater – or for that matter less – than it was for most other groups in British society. The trade union leaders were also reticent concerning the special needs of homeworkers.
