ABSTRACT
This chapter suggests that issues particularly relevant to black women workers may be even further removed from the union agenda. It argues that trade union involvement can only be understood in the context of both structural organization of trade unions and their ability to reflect the experiences and interests of workers. The evidence of the failure of union officers to acknowledge work-place struggle in hospital ancillary work suggests that such struggles may be channelled away from union organization. The formation of UNISON provided an opportunity for the development of a truly innovative approach to both the content of the union agenda and the processes of union organization. The union agenda provides the context in which workers identify interests, and determines which interests are articulated within the union. Through the analysis of women's ancillary work in the National Health Service, a number of arguments were made about the nature of women's work.
