Women's Groups in British Unions

Women's groups in unions are collective spaces within which women seek to advance their concerns and access empowering positions. This paper examines their pursuit of gender equality in unions. The need to explore unions and women's groups is heightened by women's significance as a source of union membership, and the connection between union revitalization and responsiveness to women. The paper uses case studies of two unions, MSF and USDAW, and seven women's groups. The analysis is structured by a typology of two frameworks: (i) a typology of gendered equality ideas derived from various literatures, and (ii) the dynamic and linked dimensions of Hyman's (1994) union organization model. Implications for research and theory, and for union policy and practice, are discussed.