Feminism and Unionism in New Zealand

Abstract

In 1991, a new labour relations regime was introduced in New Zealand that overturned a hundred year old pattern of bargaining between capital and labour. In a labour market heavily inflected by gender and race, the radical change from occupational awards to enterprise or individual contracts has already widened the pay gap between men's and women's average earnings and reduced union membership, particularly among women in low paid clerical, sales and service work.(1) The gendered impact of the Act has set back not only unionism in New Zealand, but also feminism. In the 1970s and 1980s, some significant improvements were achieved for women at work and in the union movement - equal pay, a Charter of rights for working women, increased union leadership by women, specific representation of women and Maori in the Federation of Labour, and legislation for parental leave, sexual harassment complaints procedures, equal employment opportunity programmes and - very briefly - independent comparable worth assessments between male and female dominated occupations to provide pay equity. These gains were facilitated by a particular conjunction of occupational unions and feminism, in that they owed much to the efforts of large unions with women leaders and large female memberships. Patterns of labour relations regulation are political outcomes reflecting the changing interests and unequal power of unions, employers and the state.(2) 'The unions', however, are not unitary but comprise groups of women and men in different employment situations with differing interests in labour relations regulation. In the 1970s and 1980s feminist unionists constructed new sets of interests to be represented in bargaining and in the changing legislative framework. These interests were set back when employers and the government withdrew from New Zealand's historic compromise(3) on labour relations, the award bargaining system - to the detriment of collective organisation by women. Occupational Unions and the Gender Division of Labour The gender division of labour was identified in the work of Heidi Hartmann and Zillah Eisenstein as a key point of intersection in the complex relations between capitalism and patriarchy.(4) Feminist historians and sociologists began to examine the connections between the active practices through which jobs are gendered male or female, the segregation of men and women in workplaces and in the labour market, and the gap between the average earnings of women and of men.(5) Although the tasks which women and men perform vary historically and between cultures, the most persistent and most internationally consistent characteristic of labour markets is differentiation between 'women's work' and 'men's work.' Occupational segregation survives wars and economic crises, restructuring and technological revolutions.(6) Where populations vary by race (or caste) within a country or when labour processes are internationalised, certain occupations also become characteristic of particular racial groups as well as being gendered.(7) The New Zealand labour market shows a similar pattern of job segregation by gender and by race, with Maori and Pacific Island women concentrated in a very limited range of low paid jobs.(8) In discussing the practices through which jobs become gendered and racially marked, Cynthia Cockburn argues that: Behind occupational segregation is gender differentiation, and behind that again is male power, which has to be confronted directly. The slow and steady route to change is undoubtedly through women's autonomous organisation outside and inside trade unions and political parties, changing the nature of demands concerning training and work.(9) Feminist unionists in the United States,(10) Britain and other countries have been critical of the under-representation of women in positions of union leadership, particularly at national level. Women have encountered difficulties in raising concerns specific to women members within male dominated union organisations. …

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