Anne McBride - Gender Democracy in Trade Unions

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Gender Democracy in Trade Unions

For Mary Foster

First published 2001 by Ashgate Publishing

Reissued 2018 by Routledge

2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN

711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

Copyright Anne McBride 2001

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

Notice:

Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.

Publishers Note

The publisher has gone to great lengths to ensure the quality of this reprint but points out that some imperfections in the original copies may be apparent.

Disclaimer

The publisher has made every effort to trace copyright holders and welcomes correspondence from those they have been unable to contact.

A Library of Congress record exists under LC control number: 2001087935

ISBN 13: 978-1-138-70506-7 (hbk)

ISBN 13: 978-1-315-20232-7 (ebk)

Contents

Guide

Figures

Tables

Many thanks are given to the many members and officers of UNISON who gave so freely of their time and opinions during this study. For reasons of confidentiality it is not possible to name them individually but their generous help and endless patience with my study has been invaluable.

I am indebted to The Economic and Social Research Council who funded the original research and, more indirectly, provided an excellent resource in the form of the Industrial Relations Research Unit, University of Warwick. I am particularly grateful for the valuable support provided by Mike Terry and Linda Dickens. Thanks also to Caroline Lloyd, Sonia Liff, Paul Edwards and Richard Hyman for passing comment on this work at various stages. Comments made by Cynthia Cockbum and John Kelly have been useful in moving towards the final text and I thank them both for their contributions. This text has also benefited from the generous support and technical assistance provided by Val Jephcott. My last set of thanks is to Charlie, Mary, Harry and Jackie who have supported me in every way possible.

AGM	Annual General Meeting
APT&C	Administrative, Professional, Technical and Clerical Staff Group
BEOW	Branch Equality Officer (Women)
CCT	Compulsory Competitive Tendering
CFDU	Campaign for a Fighting Democratic Unison
COHSE	Confederation of Health Service Employees
DSO	Direct Services Organisation
EOC	Equal Opportunities Commission
FTO	Full-time Officer
HC	Health Care
HCSG	Health Care Service Group
HCSGE	Health Care Service Group Executive
LG	Local Government
LGSG	Local Government Service Group
LGSGE	Local Government Service Group Executive
LP	Labour Party
M&C	Manual and Craft
NALGO	National and Local Government Officers Association
NDC	National Delegate Conference
NEC	National Executive Council
NHS	National Health Service
NLGC	National Lesbian and Gay Committee
NUPE	National Union of Public Employees
NWCf	National Womens Conference
NWCm	National Womens Committee
RHA	Regional Health Authority
SG	Service Group
SGE	Service Group Executive
SOG	Self-organised Group
STV	Single Transferable Vote
SWOMP	Socialist Women on Male Platforms
TUC	Trades Union Congress
TUPE	Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 1981

1
Introduction

This book looks at the attempts of the largest British trade union, UNISON, to support equality of representation and participation amongst its female-dominated membership. Whilst democracy infers equality, this is often a desirable rather than a defining feature (Holden, 1993). UNISONs rule book provides structures that guarantee representative equality for its female membership. I have therefore used the concept of gender democracy to indicate that equality between men and women members is a defining feature of UNISON and is the specific focus of this book.

This book has four main aims. First, it describes and analyses UNISONs strategies for reshaping trade union democracy and achieving gender democracy. Secondly, it illustrates the difference this reshaping makes to womens participation and representation. Thirdly, it exposes how these strategies can be blocked and limited. Finally, it argues that union structures need to be organised around principles of individual and group representation. In essence, it argues that UNISONs structures are a necessary element of equality between men and women, but not a sufficient condition for the empowerment of women as a social group.

In itself, noting that equal opportunities policies are necessary but not sufficient is nothing new. What is new is that UNISON is the first British trade union to adopt a comprehensive range of strategies that relate to the representation and participation of individual women and women as a social group. An added feature of this research is the detailed study of the decision-making committees in the union that made it possible to address questions of what difference does it make? Finally, the analysis draws on wider political theory that addresses the redistribution of power to oppressed social groups. This provides a powerful explanation of why UNISONs strategies are not sufficient in themselves to empower women as a social group.

This chapter provides the context and content of the study. The next section gives an overview of the changing face of British trade unionism and provides the context in which UNISON emerged as the largest UK trade union. The chapter identifies essential elements in UNISONs new model of democracy and provides an overview of the research approach. The chapter closes with an outline of the remainder of the book.

The changing face of British trade unionism

Much has been written about the dramatic change in British trade unionism since Margaret Thatchers Conservative Government came to power in 1979. The first, and foremost change, is the dramatic decline in membership across Britain during the 1980s and 1990s. Over a twenty-year period, membership has fallen by 40 per cent. It now stands at 7.2 million, 30 per cent of all employees (Hicks, 2000). Women make up 44 per cent of the workforce and approximately 40 per cent of trade union members are women. The Trades Union Congress (TUC) which is the umbrella organisation for 80 per cent of all trade union members believes that recruiting more women will be a key factor in reversing the decline in membership.

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