TY - JOUR T1 - Do Unions Promote Gender Equality? JF - Duke Journal of Gender Law & Policy Y1 - 2014 A1 - Lilach Lurie KW - collective agreements KW - gender KW - gender equality KW - labor unions KW - patriarchal division of labor AB -

Do workers’ unions promote gender equality? The scholarship in the past thirty years has increasingly questioned the ability of unions to give voice to the needs of all workers, including foreign workers, workers with disabilities, elderly workers, gay and lesbian workers, and women. This article shows that unions promote a patriarchal division of labor in society through an empirical study of most of the sectorial collective agreements with employers in Israel. The fathers’ role in these collective agreements is to support their family; the mothers’ role is to raise the children. Thus several collective agreements provide mothers with flexible working hours and reimbursements for daycare centers, while not providing these rights to working fathers. Significant collective agreements grant working fathers, but not working mothers, with a special “family supplement” that is added to their monthly wages, increasing the gender wage-gap.

VL - 22 L2 - eng UR - http://scholarship.law.duke.edu/djglp/vol22/iss1/3/ CP - 1 ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Gender Equality Bargaining: Developing Theory and Practice JF - Journal of Industrial Relations Y1 - 2014 A1 - Williamson, Sue A1 - Marian Baird KW - collective bargaining KW - gender KW - gender equality KW - women and work KW - working conditions AB -

It has long been recognized that collective bargaining is at the heart of industrial relations. Research on collective bargaining was largely gender blind; however, since the late 1980s, researchers have begun to examine how collective bargaining can progress gender equality in the workplace. The practice of negotiating for terms and conditions of employment to advance workplace gender equality is known as ‘gender equality bargaining’. This article provides an overview of the development and debates around gender equality bargaining over the last 25 years. It shows how definitions and concepts have broadened so that ‘gender equality bargaining’ is now effectively a subset of a wider ‘equality bargaining’ project being implemented by some unions. Just as the concept of equality bargaining has expanded, so too has the range of gender equality bargaining items, reflecting the gendered needs of both male and female employees. This prompts the authors to question whether gender equality bargaining is becoming mainstreamed within collective bargaining and to consider possible attendant implications. This article concludes by framing the following articles in this special edition, highlighting the diverse subject areas which are being negotiated, the multiple approaches being used and the theoretical interdisciplinary approaches being applied to advance both the practice and scholarship of gender equality bargaining.

VL - 56 L2 - eng CP - 2 ER - TY - JOUR T1 - The Role Of The International Labour Organisation In Balancing Work And Family In The 21st Century JF - Journal of Industrial Relations Y1 - 2014 A1 - Hodges, Jane KW - family KW - gender KW - gender equality KW - ILO KW - International Labour Organisation AB -

[Excerpt] Having been created in 1919, as part of the Treaty of Versailles which ended the hostilities of the Great War, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) has almost 100 years’ experience in addressing the important theme of balancing tensions that pit work responsibilities against family roles and societal expectations. With such a weight of history and time, one might be forgiven for expecting this article to overflow with successes and positive examples, built up over decades of normative work, policy advice, research and data collection, technical support and capacity-building with the ILO’s tripartite (employer, union and government) constituents. Yet, as with many fundamental principles and rights in the world of work, equality for women and men remains a challenge. The following section will cover the particular characteristics of the ILO and its commitment to gender equality in general. Next I will expand on the International Labour Standards (ILS) relevant to balancing work and family, with recent examples of good practices. In concluding, I will tempt the reader to examine in more depth the structural reasons that appear to feed the tensions, and posit ways forward.

VL - 56 L2 - eng CP - 4 ER - TY - BOOK T1 - Gender and Leadership in Unions Y1 - 2013 A1 - Gill Kirton A1 - Geraldine Healy KW - gender KW - gender equality KW - social justice KW - union leadership KW - women trade union leaders KW - women union members AB -

Reflecting the increased attention to gender and women in the field of employment relations, there is now a growing international literature on women and trade unions. The interest in women as trade unionists arises partly from the fact that women comprise 40 percent of trade union membership in the USA and over 50 percent in the UK. Further, despite considerable overall union membership decline in both the UK and USA, more women than men are joining unions in both countries. Recognition of the importance of women to the survival and revival of trade union movements has in many cases produced an unprecedented commitment to equality and inclusion at the highest level. Yet the challenge is to ensure that this commitment is translated to action and improves the experience of women in their union and in their workplace.Gender and Leadership in Trade Unions explores and evaluates the similarities and differences in equality strategies pursued by unions in the US and the UK. It assesses the conditions experienced by women union members and how these impact on their leadership, both potential and actual. Women have made gains in both countries within union leadership and decision-making structures, however, climbing the ladder to leadership positions remains far from a smooth process. In the trade union context, women face multiple barriers that resonate with the barriers facing aspiring women leaders in other organizational contexts, including the gendered division of domestic work; the organization and nature of women’s work; the organization and nature of trade union work and the masculine culture of trade unions. The discussion of women trade union leaders is situated more broadly within debates on governance, leadership and democracy within social justice activism.(publisher's statement)

PB - Routledge CY - London L2 - eng ER -