Organizing Women

Abstract

This article examines the intersection of gender and union strategies and how that has played out in labor’s continued efforts at revitalization through organizing. Using a combination of macro Bureau of Labor Statistics and National Labor Relations Board data along with findings from an in-depth survey of 412 National Labor Relations Board election campaigns, the research examines the impact of company characteristics, bargaining union demographics, and employer and union tactics across bargaining in units where women predominate, in mixed units, and in units where men predominate. The article concludes that although women continue to make up the majority of new workers being organized (despite some notable exceptions), most unions organizing women workers continue to run fairly weak ineffectual campaigns. Women also remain seriously underrepresented in staff and leadership positions in most unions. Most important, there are entire sectors, such as finance and insurance and much of the retail sector, where women predominate but have been almost untouched by organizing.

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