Bank Worker Unionization and the Law

Warskett, Rosemary

doi:10.1080/19187033.1988.11675549

Cited by 6 publications

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“…In 2002, union density rates were 12.3 per cent in retail, 7.3 per cent in accommodation and food and 8.9 per cent in finance, insurance and real estate (Statistics Canada, 2003, p. 52). Explanations for why such low rates of union density persist in these occupations and industries include the high cost and low rate of return for unions of organizing workers in small, low‐paid workplaces, a lack of union effort, intense employer opposition and high employee turnover (Warskett, 1988; White, 1980). The barriers to organizing private service sector work have therefore been used to explain why unions have not made significant inroads into this sector, and hence why large numbers of women are not unionized.…”

Section: Misconception 2: Unionization In the The Public Sector Explamentioning

confidence: 99%

Challenging Misconceptions about Organizing Women into Unions

Yates

2006

Gender Work & Organization

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In many countries, women are the fastest growing group of unionized workers. As unions scramble to restore their flagging membership, women become central to the process of union membership renewal. Yet survey data collected from union organizers in Canada show that unions are only partially meeting women's demand for union representation, in large part because of gender bias in union organizing practices. To develop this argument, this article offers data analysis that challenges four popular misconceptions about women and unions which contribute to gender bias in union organizing practices. These misconceptions are: women are less likely to support unions than men; high rates of unionization in the public sector rather than women themselves explain the high rates of union growth amongst women; small workplaces are a particular barrier to organizing women and women are more passive and avoid conflict, therefore reducing their likelihood of withstanding a hostile organizing drive. Having challenged these misconceptions, the article concludes with a discussion of the many ways in which union organizing practices are gender biased. Issues discussed range from the limited number of women hired as organizers to the tendency of unions to target small male-dominated workplaces for organizing, over women-dominated workplaces, in spite of the latter's greater likelihood of success.

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Section: Misconception 2: Unionization In the The Public Sector Explamentioning

confidence: 99%

Challenging Misconceptions about Organizing Women into Unions

Yates

2006

Gender Work & Organization

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“…There is a case-study literature focusing on major strikes, intended largely to demonstrate the capacity of women to engage in assertive and militant action against employers (McDermott, 1983;Coulter, 1993;White, 1990). Among the occupational sectors that have received particularly strong analytical attention in Canada is banking (e.g., Lowe, 1987;Warskett, 1988), illustrating that unionization is possible in a sector notoriously difficult to organize. [For another example of the analysis of unionization in female-dominated sectors, see Bernard (1982) on telecommunications workers.…”

Section: Women and Unionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Labor Union Response to Diversity in Canada and the United States

Hunt

Rayside

2000

Industrial Relations

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Canadian and American research finds that organized labor's engagement with race, ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation until recently has been largely exclusionist. The Canadian labor movement emerges as having been somewhat more responsive to equity issues, particularly gender and sexual orientation, and at an earlier stage than its U.S. counterpart. The American movement, however, did create limited room for African-American issues and unionization from early this century and now shows signs of broader engagement with diversity issues in general. The literature is strong in case studies pointing to exceptional situations involving minority militancy and union acceptance and in highlighting the role of activists inside and external to the labor movement. It suffers from a lack of large-scale analysis and comparison.Has organized labor been an ally or a foe for women and minority groups seeking equal opportunities and equitable treatment in the labor force and workplace? There is now a substantial body of literature focused on this question, and recent changes in union response to issues of diversity call out for a summary and assessment of this literature. This article considers scholarship on race, ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation in Canada and the United States.

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Unions: Resistance and Mobilization

Briskin¹

2017

A Companion to Gender Studies

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Bank Worker Unionization and the Law

Cited by 6 publications

References 0 publications

Challenging Misconceptions about Organizing Women into Unions

Challenging Misconceptions about Organizing Women into Unions

Labor Union Response to Diversity in Canada and the United States

Unions: Resistance and Mobilization

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