Women have been in the labor force for a long time, but now more women than ever before are going into traditionally male dominated fields. Since unions were formed to protect the rights of workers, do they represent all union members concerns equally? Women in the IBEW (International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers) AFL-CIO (American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations) and the Teamsters Union are examples of these organizations. Women in local unions are joining together to become powerful within their unions. The women of IBEW Local 48 explain that they are fighting for equal rights within their union. The main goal of these women is to help with discrimination that may be present in the workplace.
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Women in the union earn 35% more than non-union women in the same fields. (AFL-CIO)
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Unions are important to women. Unions have given women a voice in the trade fields. By joining unions women are much more likely to increase their pay and benefits because they are represented by a large and powerful group. According to some unions, the reason they often under-represent women is that women are more likely to be part-time workers.
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Women make up 46.2 % of the civilian labor force. (Amy Waldman) |
When almost half of the labor
force is women, one would assume that women would have equal
representation and that their concerns would be dealt with fairly.
Unfortunately that is not always the case. Only four years ago, one
of the largest unions in the US, the AFL-CIO severely lacked
representation of women in upper leadership roles. With few women in
the higher offices, many women's concerns were not
addressed. "By 1996, women accounted
for 39 percent of all union members, and the majority of new
ones." (Kate
Bronfenbrenner)
Women are increasing their notability within the unions. This is important because the unions help women, and at the same time, they bring popularity with women. With this cooperation, union women are making greater strides for women all over the world bringing with them increased respect and power.
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Waldman, A. (1997). Labor's New Face: Women renegotiate their role. The Nation, Vol. 265. 11-15 [5/23/00] [Expanded Acedemic Index].
AFL-CIO (1999). Union raise wages-especially for minorities and women. The Union Advantage pp. 5/23/00. http://www.aflcio.org/uniondifference/uniondiff4.htm.
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