ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that women's activity tends to be underestimated and secondly that, because of the restricted union agenda, women are more likely to engage in forms of activity and resistance outside of formal union structures. It examines the way in which the women members in the research were actually involved in a considerable range of union activities and reviews the debates around participation and the main explanations in the literature. The chapter also argues that there are a number of factors which have some effect in increasing participation, there is an underlying limitation based on the restricted trade union agenda. It focuses on shop stewards' explanations for the levels of participation by the women ancillary members. The shop stewards' explanations for a relatively low level of involvement by women members were in terms of features of the women themselves and their lives, in particular in terms of their domestic responsibilities.
