Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Women's Participation In Local Union Leadership: The Massachusetts Experience, Dale Melcher, Jennifer L. Eichstedt, Shelley Eriksen, Dan Clawson

Dan Clawson

A 1989 survey of leaders of a sample of Massachusetts AFL- CIO-affiliated union locals indicates that although women are represented in these union locals' leadership in numbers nearly proportional to the female percentage of membership, they are under-represented in the most influential positions. Women are over-represented as secretaries and seriously under-represented as presidents; they chair many committees, but rarely the key grievance or negotiations committees. Minority women appear to be even more under-represented in leadership positions than are white women. Both male and female union leaders said they would like to see more women in leadership, but most of the …