{"id":308,"date":"2018-02-28T13:55:47","date_gmt":"2018-02-28T13:55:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/global\/?p=308"},"modified":"2018-02-28T14:05:24","modified_gmt":"2018-02-28T14:05:24","slug":"union-revitalisation-and-women-workers-at-the-intersection-of-gender-and-class","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/global\/2018\/02\/28\/union-revitalisation-and-women-workers-at-the-intersection-of-gender-and-class\/","title":{"rendered":"Union Revitalisation and Women Workers at the Intersection of Gender and Class"},"content":{"rendered":"

This post is by\u00a0Hannah Loosley completed the\u00a0MA in the Social Anthropology of the Global Economy<\/a>\u00a0at the University of Sussex in 2017.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Women working in care, catering, cleaning, cashier and clerical jobs (the 5 Cs) have long been neglected in trade unions and politics. Their jobs are seen as \u2018extras\u2019 \u2013 helping other people be fed and cared for, so they can do their \u2018proper\u2019 work.<\/p>\n

Traditionally, trade unions have been white, male, blue-collar worker-dominated spaces, but things are changing. More and more unions are setting up networks for women and other underrepresented identities, such as LGBTQ and BME people. But though these groups exist, do their members have a voice at the table? Do they have the power to change the agenda? And do they deal with intersections effectively?<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The integration of women into historically male dominated trade unions is not a new issue, and\u00a0unions have now also been trying to \u2018revitalise\u2019 in order to cater to a more insecure workforce<\/a>.\u00a0 However, the stories of the Radical Women\u2019s network, below, illustrate that gender and insecure work should be looked at together, because they are experienced together by five Cs women.<\/p>\n

\u2018General\u2019 unions like\u00a0GMB<\/a>\u00a0can appeal to workers in any industry, and are therefore able to expand their membership more easily than unions for specific industries, such as the male-dominated train drivers\u2019 union,\u00a0ASLEF<\/a>. Considering that large numbers of workers in the UK are now in precarious employment, and a high proportion of these are women, unions like the GMB need to directly deal with the gendered class issues faced by five Cs women in order to effectively represent current members, and gain new recruits.<\/p>\n

The Radical Women\u2019s Network of the GMB North West and Irish Region<\/a>\u00a0is a space in which low-paid women engage in union activity.\u00a0 Here, the intersection between class and gender inequality is recognised, and gendered class issues regularly surface.\u00a0 In my Master\u2019s dissertation research, I analysed the ways in which the GMB addresses such issues, focusing on pay, career progression opportunities, negative changes to work environments, health and safety, and a lack of enforceable employment rights. This women\u2019s space enables women to discuss these common workplace issues, develop a political consciousness by linking things that affect them to systematic problems, gain confidence, and raise issues as \u2018motions\u2019 for the national union to deal with in its political and industrial strategies. Until recently, the regional women\u2019s networks have not all been active and have not been connected, which limits their potential to transform the union in this way.<\/p>\n

Since my dissertation was published, however, the first national women\u2019s conference was\u00a0held in Liverpool<\/a>. This gave new and experienced women activists from across the country the chance to meet, share their stories, and learn more about what they can do as activists in their workplace and in politics. I strongly hope that as a national women\u2019s network becomes more organised, and financially and logistically supported by the union, the better gendered class issues will be addressed by the GMB.<\/p>\n

Laura, Joanne, Grace, Catherine, and Martha* are members of the Radical Women\u2019s Network. \u00a0They believe that there\u2019s still a lot left to be done to protect women workers \u2013 and they won\u2019t stop until they\u2019ve helped achieve it.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what they had to say about why women need to be in unions, how to join one, and why language shouldn\u2019t be a barrier to getting involved in politics \u2013 \u201dall you need is the fire in your belly\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Why women need to be in unions<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Laura: \u201cWe want what the men have. We want respect.<\/p>\n

Access to justice is one of our big sellers as a trade union. We\u2019ve got solicitors who can say, \u2018You\u2019ve got a case, and we\u2019ll go for it for you.\u2019 And that\u2019s covered by your few pounds a month. Access to justice\u2026 take that away from us and we\u2019re stuffed. Absolutely stuffed.\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve got a girl who works with me, Sarah. She\u2019s 39, and she\u2019s riddled with rheumatoid arthritis. So I make sure she gets two days off, I make sure she gets her hospital appointments, her blood tests, all that off. She doesn\u2019t want to stop work \u2013 she\u2019s only 39. You\u2019ve got to look after people, you know. Someone\u2019s got to fight people\u2019s corners.<\/p>\n

My first thing about the equal pay question was that the cleaners \u2013 or at least that\u2019s what they were called \u2013 were doing a lot more than just cleaning. They were doing table service, they were doing food prep\u2026 and I thought, this isn\u2019t fair.<\/p>\n

We did the equal pay claims against the city council, and we won, because cleaners were considered to be using the same skillset as a gardener, a park keeper, [but weren\u2019t being paid the same amount]. So we got upgraded another level. But if the trade union hadn\u2019t been there, that would never have happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

Taking the first step: \u201cYou don\u2019t have time to get nervous.\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Laura: \u201cYou don\u2019t have time to get nervous. The first one I did was for International Women\u2019s Day. I just went in the door and the head of the union in the region said, \u2018You\u2019re sitting over there\u2019 and I just went, \u2018Where? Where?\u2019 and he went, \u2018There,\u2019 and pointed at the chairperson\u2019s seat. And I didn\u2019t know anything about the speakers, so I was just browsing the internet while everyone was having a brew. But it was good, and since then I\u2019ve not looked back really.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joanne: \u201cI had my own branch at one time, but I\u2019ve actually got a memory problem now. I used to be very active. It became my life, you know? And I had three kids, but everything worked around the union.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been nearly fighting with someone on many occasions, but people will sort of insinuate, \u201cWell, you\u2019re a woman\u2026\u201d Well, yeah. Watch this space. We get a lot done, women. I\u2019m really proud of our reps, proud of them all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Laura: \u201cOf course we do. There\u2019s nothing worse than a load of angry people at your door, banging on your door every Monday morning.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joanne: \u201cEspecially women!\u201d<\/p>\n

Grace: \u201cI\u2019m a senior organiser. I became involved in the the union 28 years ago. We were having a really tough time at work, and I didn\u2019t think the trade union were doing anything for us at the time. So I got round a load of women, went to see the officer, and said, \u2018Why don\u2019t you organise a mass meeting?\u2019 He said, \u2018Well if you\u2019re so clever, why don\u2019t you organise it?\u2019 So I did!\u00a0There were no senior female figures mentoring people in the union. I was lucky, I had some really good mentors, but they were all men. I see my role and the role of women in the union to mentor other women, and bring them in.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLanguage in politics can bamboozle\u2026 all you need is the fire in your belly\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Catherine: \u201cLanguage in politics can bamboozle. It\u2019ll make \u2018ordinary\u2019 people \u2013 though I hate using the word ordinary, nobody\u2019s ordinary \u2013 feel like politics isn\u2019t for them. It\u2019s striking, coming into a situation where people are well educated and they know a lot about politics, and you feel like you just can\u2019t articulate things like they do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"22792579_1499776950090320_8455187039454234393_o\"<\/p>\n

Martha: \u201cBut you know more about life than they do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Catherine: \u201cThat\u2019s it \u2013 the Women\u2019s Network is about letting women know that that\u2019s all we need. We don\u2019t need to come from universities or colleges or do degrees or diplomas. All we need is to be part of something, and fight for what we believe in\u2026 that\u2019s all we need.\u201d<\/p>\n

Martha: \u201cI know recently I have real beef talking to people about getting into politics, because they say, \u2018I don\u2019t know the language, I\u2019m not articulate enough.\u2019 I say it\u2019s not about that, it doesn\u2019t matter. If you\u2019re passionate enough, it doesn\u2019t matter how many fancy words you know. It\u2019s the opposite. You\u2019ve got to speak in a language people understand. If you\u2019ve got the fire in your belly, that\u2019s what\u2019s relevant. And I actually think that\u2019s why people look at politicians and think, \u2018I don\u2019t get it\u2026\u2019 Just because they\u2019ve swallowed a thesaurus, doesn\u2019t mean they know any more than you do!\u201d<\/p>\n

Zero-hours contracts, young people, and the future of unions<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Laura: \u201cUnions need to gain popularity with young people. Our membership\u2019s increasing, it\u2019s increasing with women, and again it\u2019s just a case of getting the message out there. It\u2019s making sure that youngsters actually know what trade unions are, that we\u2019re not troublemakers, we\u2019re there to protect you, to watch your back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joanne: \u201cWith all these zero-hours contracts, sometimes people aren\u2019t even earning enough to pay union membership. They\u2019re sort of whittling people down. Our membership used to just come out of our wages so we didn\u2019t even think about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Laura: \u201cBut they\u2019re taking away people\u2019s safety nets. Social security, you know, and disability allowance and things. We know some people are in terrible states because they don\u2019t have enough to pay their rent. So what do you do? You apply for a rebate, and then you find out you\u2019re not entitled to it anymore. It\u2019s scary. But with the input we\u2019re getting now from young people, I think we\u2019ll get stronger.\u201d<\/p>\n

Martha: \u201cBeing a woman\u2026 they think you\u2019re kinder. My branch secretary calls me his \u2018stealth missile\u2019, because they think I\u2019ll be all nice and quiet and agree with everything. And then they think, \u201cOh \u2013 she\u2019s not quite as nice as we thought.\u201d [Smiles]<\/p>\n

*These names have been changed.<\/em><\/p>\n

This post originally appeared on Culture and Capitalism: A Sussex University Anthropology<\/a> <\/strong>blog, 29 January 2018<\/p>\n

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This post is by\u00a0Hannah Loosley completed the\u00a0MA in the Social Anthropology of the Global Economy\u00a0at the University of Sussex in 2017. Women working in care, catering, cleaning, cashier and clerical jobs (the 5 Cs) have long been neglected in trade…<\/span><\/p>\n

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