Women's Participation in Local Union Leadership: the Massachusetts Experience Author(S): Dale Melcher, Jennifer L

University of Massachusetts Amherst

From the SelectedWorks of Dan Clawson

January, 1992

Women's Participation in Local Union Leadership: The asM sachusetts Experience Dale Melcher Jennifer L. Eichstedt Shelley Eriksen Dan Clawson, University of Massachusetts - Amherst

Available at: https://works.bepress.com/dan_clawson/19/

Women's Participation in Local Union Leadership: The Massachusetts Experience Author(s): Dale Melcher, Jennifer L. Eichstedt, Shelley Eriksen and Dan Clawson Source: Industrial and Labor Relations Review, Vol. 45, No. 2 (Jan., 1992), pp. 267-280 Published by: Cornell University, School of Industrial & Labor Relations Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2524834 . Accessed: 31/07/2013 11:50

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This content downloaded from 128.119.169.202 on Wed, 31 Jul 2013 11:50:59 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions WOMEN'S PARTICIPATION IN LOCAL UNION LEADERSHIP: THE MASSACHUSETTS EXPERIENCE

DALE MELCHER, JENNIFER L. EICHSTEDT, SHELLEY ERIKSEN, and 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' leadershipin numbersnearly proportional to the femalepercentage of membership,they are under-representedin the mostinfluential positions. Women are over-representedas secretariesand seriouslyunder-represented as presidents;they chair many committees, but rarelythe keygrievance or negotiationscommittees. Minority women appear to be even more under-representedin leadership positionsthan are whitewomen. Both male and female union leaders said theywould like to see more women in leadership,but mostof the men did not seem to view the need for more female leaders as urgent,since theyindicated thatwomen's issues were adequately representedby male leaders.

W OMEN continueto be seriouslyun- the female proportionof unionized work- AV Tder-representedat the top levels of ers. Only three of the 35 members of the union leadership, despite an increase in AFL-CIO Executive Council are women, and only three AFL-CIO international " Dale Melcher is Visiting Lecturer, Labor Rela- unions have a female president(the Retail, tions and Research Center, Universityof Massachu- Wholesale, and Department Store Union, setts-Amherst;Jennifer L. Eichstedt is a doctoral the Association of Flight Attendants,and candidate in the Departmentof Sociology,University Actors Equity). Despite growingawareness of California-Santa Cruz; Shelley Eriksen is a of the need for more women in leadership doctoral candidate in the Department of Sociology, University of Massachusetts-Amherst; and Dan positions, the increase over the past Clawson is Professor of Sociology, Universityof decade in the number of women who hold Massachusetts-Amherst. national union officeis far fromdramatic. Funding for this project was obtained through a Some evidence suggests,however, that the Faculty Research Grant from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Many people helped increase in the representationof female make the survey and article possible. The authors officersat the regional or local level has thank Harvey Friedman, Arthur Osborn, Gary outpaced that at the national level, hold- Chaison, Sandra Morgen, Naomi Gerstel,Alice Rossi, ing hope for future increase at the Ann Whitehead, and the Women's Institute for national leadership level. Leadership Development steering committee.They particularlythank Robert Haynes, Secretary-Trea- Although there have been a number of surer of the MassachusettsAFL-CIO, withoutwhose case studies of women in local unions, our support and expertise this survey would not have understandingof the nature and scope of been possible,and M. G. Wheatley,who made major women's participationat the local level is contributionsin all phases of the survey. Copies of the questionnaireand data are available still far from complete, and the subject from Dan Clawson, Department of Sociology, Uni- merits further investigation for several versityof Massachusetts,Amherst, MA 01003. reasons. First, the presence of female

Iindustrialanid Labor Relatoions Review, Vol. 45, No. 2 (January 1992). ? by Cornell University. 0019-7939/92/4502$01.00

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This content downloaded from 128.119.169.202 on Wed, 31 Jul 2013 11:50:59 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 268 INDUSTRIAL AND LABOR RELATIONS REVIEW officersquite likelybenefits female union past decade. Berquist (1974) analyzed BLS members. The contract is often negoti- data for the years 1952-72 and concluded ated, and usually administered and en- that although women had significantly forced,at the local level. Women's partici- increased their membership in unions, pation in these activities affects policies there had been little corresponding in- concerning such issues as sexual harass- crease in their representation in higher ment, child care, and pay equity,and the elected or appointed positions. Baden presence of women in leadership stimu- (1986), in a study of 15 national unions lates greater union involvementby rank- and 2 national associations, found little and-file women (Heery and Kelly 1988). significantchange in female representa- Additionally,as Needleman (1988) argues, tion on these national governing boards women's participationat all levels of union between 1979 and 1985. Furthermore,of activityand decision-makinghas the po- the 15 national unions, she found that tential to strengthen the movement to- only 5 were significantlycommitted to ward more internal union democracy, allocating the union's time and financial more rank-and-fileinvolvement, and so- resources to women's issues. cial activismwithin unions. Second, local Previous research has developed much leadership positions are a common route more complete informationon women's to national office. Women's rise to key participationat the national level than at local union offices,and acquisition of the the local level, although fragmentarydata needed skills and contactsin the process, indicate that women's participation is shape future avenues to national leader- greater at the local level (Baden 1986; ship positions (Gray 1989; Koziara, Brad- Berquist 1974; LeGrande 1978; Glassberg, ley, and Pierson 1982; Nelson 1989; Baden, and Gerstel 1980). Baden (1986) Wertheimerand Nelson 1975). focused primarily on the situation of The data employed in this study, de- women in national leadership, but she rived from a survey of leaders of AFL- found scatteredevidence to suggest wom- CIO-affiliated union locals, provide the en's greater participationat the local level, most complete and currentpicture to date particularlyin public sector unions and in of the participation of women in local associations that have female majorities union leadership. Massachusettsis a good and engage in collectivebargaining, such site for such a survey because it has a as the American Nurses Association and broad range of union settings, ranging the National Education Association.Given from occupations with a long historyof the limited and provisional nature of unionization to a large number of more Baden's data on locals, we are stillleft with recently unionized jobs in education, no clear picture of what positions women health care, and governmentservice. We hold at the local level, in what numbers, investigatenot only the relativenumber of and under what conditions. women in leadership positions, but the Chaison and Andiappan's (1982, 1983, nature of those positions as well. We also 1987, 1989) research on Canadian na- report local union leaders' perceptions of tional and local unions represents the specificbarriers to women's participation most systematicwork available on women in local leadership. in union leadership. Their initialresearch agenda was twofold: to determine the characteristicsof female leaders and their Previous Research unions, and to explore the explanations The Bureau of Labor Statisticsceased offered by officers for the low level of collecting official statistics on women's women's involvementin national unions. participationin unions in the early 1980s, In their sample of female national offic- makingit difficultto accuratelygauge the ers, women were more likely to be number of women who hold national and presidents (26.3%), vice-presidents local leadership officesor the rate at which (28.8%), or "others" (a category that that number has been changing over the included positions such as director, re-

This content downloaded from 128.119.169.202 on Wed, 31 Jul 2013 11:50:59 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions WOMEN IN LOCAL UNION LEADERSHIP 269 gional coordinator,and general chairper- programs, on the grounds that training son) than secretaries,treasurers, or secre- would impart the skills and confidence tary-treasurers (18.8%) (Chaison and necessary for higher office (Wertheimer Andiappan 1982:768). In their follow-up and Nelson 1975; Nelson 1989). survey of local union officers,however, Studies by Roby (1987), Roby and Uttal they found women more likely to be (1988), and Lawrence (1989) on union secretaries, secretary-treasurers,or trea- stewards offer a more contemporaryex- surers, and less likely to be union presi- amination of the concerns and experi- dents. Those who were union presidents ences of women in local leadership. Be- tended to come from the smallest locals, cause service as a steward is a common and fromlocals witha large proportionof pathway to higher-levelunion positions, female members (1987:282). and because stewards play a key role in National union female officersin Can- contractadministration (see, for example, ada emphasized a number of barriers to Cook 1984), the problems and perspec- women's full participationin the union. tivesof union stewardsmight illustrate the Among these were women's double duty initialobstacles to early leadership experi- at home and work and their lack of ences. confidence and training (Chaison and In a small and non-random sample of Andiappan 1983). These personal and northern California union locals, Roby family-relatedbarriers were also identified and Uttal (1988) found women were by local union officers in a later study under-represented as union stewards. (Chaison and Andiappan 1989); although Once elected or appointed, male and a range of barriers was specified in the female shop stewardshad similar rates of questionnaire, respondents stressed indi- participation,as measured by (1) union vidualisticor personal factorsand down- meetings attended, (2) other union posi- played institutionalbarriers. tions held, and (3) participationin union Chaison and Andiappan's research is a activities. On a fourth measure, doing valuable contribution, but the political steward work outside of work hours, contextin which Canadian unions operate women had a significantlylower participa- is significantlydifferent from that in the tion rate. Women's union activity was United States. Moreover, although the frequentlyconstrained by familyresponsi- researchersbelieve theirresults are gener- bilities, and often caused family conflict alizable to the United States given similar- (Roby and Uttal 1988). Spousal support of ities between the two countries' union union activitieswas a significantissue for traditions, structures, and governance, female stewards, and many developed Canadian unions may differ from U.S. innovative, individualized strategies for unions vzs-a-vis female workers. managing their "triple duty" in job, fam- There are several importantcase studies ily,and union work (Roby 1987). of women in local leadership in the United A study by Lawrence (1989) of shop States thatlaid the foundationfor work to stewards in a large, public sector, white- follow. In 1972, Wertheimerand Nelson collar union in Great Britain explored the began a three-partstudy examining barri- influence of gender and occupation on ers to women's participation in local union activism. Lawrence found signifi- unions in New York City. They obtained cant differencesbetween the situationsof informationfrom union leaders on the female and male shop stewardsthat might number of leadership positions held by help to explain the under-representation women, and they compared leaders' ex- of women as shop stewardsin the local she planations for women's relative under- studied. Male shop stewards tended to representation with the views of union conduct their union business on work rank-and-file members. Their research time, experiencing greater conflict be- focused on women's lack of confidence in tween union and work demands and less managing union responsibilities.The au- conflictwith home responsibilities.Female thorsurged greateruse of labor education stewardstended to conduct union business

This content downloaded from 128.119.169.202 on Wed, 31 Jul 2013 11:50:59 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 270 INDUSTRIAL AND LABOR RELATIONS REVIEW more frequentlyon theirown time,result- Since 1987 WILD has conducted a week- ing in greaterconflict with family and per- end-long leadership development school sonal time. Overall, men's jobs tended to for women activelyinvolved in Massachu- supporttheir union activityto a greaterex- settslocal unions. WILD and its sponsor- tentthan women'sjobs supported theirs. ing organizationsneeded reliable data on Some studies not mentionedabove have the extent and nature of women's local made valuable contributionsto the subject leadership participation to help reach of our investigationbut differfrom ours potential participants,develop a base-line in that they were based primarily on picture of women in leadership from anecdotal evidence, were case studies of which to assess progress in developing particularunions, or were not exclusively women as leaders, provide informationto concerned with women (Bell 1984; Book- existingunions about trainingneeds, and man 1988; Gray 1989; Hoyman and approach outside funding agencies for Stallworth1987; Sacks 1988). Wertheimer support for additional programming.' and Nelson's (1975) classic study of local The Massachusetts AFL-CIO cooper- unions was based on a limitednumber of ated with all phases of the study: sample locals in New York City and its data are selection, questionnaire review, mailing now almost 20 years old. Baden (1986) and implementation,and review of re- employed recent and fairlycomplete data sults. Because the survey is intended in on national leadership for 15 unions, but part for use in a second-phase project severely limited data for unions at the involvingmore intensivestudy of selected local and regional level. Roby (1987) locals, and because our aim was to include conducted three-hour interviews with a high proportionof all union membersin stewards,but the trade-offfor such thor- the state, we intentionallyover-sampled ough exploration is very limited sample large locals and those witha high percent- size. Lawrence's (1989) studyis of a single, age of female members. In the spring of white-collarlocal in Great Britain,and the 1989, a totalof 202 surveyswere mailed to applicability of her findings to United Massachusetts AFL-CIO-affiliated locals: States locals is still to be tested. Chaison 50 identifiedby knowledgeable observers and Andiappan's research is the most as the largest locals in the state, 48 comparable to ours, but it focuses on additional locals identified as having a Canada rather than on the United States. predominantlyfemale membership, and Not since Wertheimerand Nelson's 1975 104 selected randomly from the approxi- study has women's representationin the mately500 remaininglocals. local leadership of U.S. unions been As there is no publicly available, up- systematicallyexamined. to-date list of union locals and leaders in Massachusetts,we used the Massachusetts AFL-CIO's list of local unions affiliated The Survey with the state federation. Because of the Our own interest in collecting both constraints imposed by the AFL-CIO's demographic and attitudinal data for commitmentto confidentiality,we worked Massachusettsunions dovetailed with the with their list in the confines of their agendas of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO offices,and were not able to retain a copy State Labor Council and the Women's of the listfor our own reference.Mailings Institute for Leadership Development were sent from and returned directlyto (WILD), an educational project jointly AFL-CIO headquarters. Accompanying sponsored by the MassachusettsAFL-CIO, the survey was a cover letter signed by the greater Boston chapter of the Coali- Arthur Osborn, President, and Robert tion of Labor Union Women (CLUW), Haynes, Secretary-Treasurer,of the Mas- and the labor education programs at the sachusettsAFL-CIO. Surveyswere mailed Universityof Massachusetts-Amherst,the Universityof Massachusetts-Boston,and 1 For a detailed discussion of WILD, see Gooding Southeastern Massachusetts University. and Reeve (1990).

This content downloaded from 128.119.169.202 on Wed, 31 Jul 2013 11:50:59 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions WOMEN IN LOCAL UNION LEADERSHIP 271 to the AFL-CIO contact names, usually locals, racial and ethnic minoritiesare less the president,secretary, or treasurer.The than 5% of the membership,whereas in accompanyingletter was addressed to the over one-fourththey represent more than presidentof the local. 20%. In more than three-quartersof the The survey was designed and imple- locals, minoritywomen constituteless than mentedfollowing the Total Design Method 10% of the membership. The locals are outlined by Dillman (1978).2 Ninety-four fairlyevenly divided between the public surveys were returned, for a 46.5% re- and private sectors. A littleover one-half sponse rate. We believed the response rate of the locals represent workersin service for active locals was significantlyhigher, industries, and the others are in more because a number of surveyswere sent to traditionallyunionized industries,such as apparentlyinactive locals.3 Despite the dif- garments and textiles, manufacturing, ficultiesof workingwith a restrictedlist of transportation,and construction.5 union locals, our response rate was compa- The percentage of female members rable to rates obtained in previousresearch varies with commonly identified factors (for example, Wertheimer and Nelson such as industry,sector, and the year the [1975]-55.5%; and Chaison and Andiap- local was established. The type of work pan [1982; 1987; 1989]-22-23%). union membersdo makes a difference.Of the 43 locals representing maintenance and production workers,47% have one- Local Characteristics thirdor more female members,compared The responding union locals represent to 61.5% of the 39 locals doing profes- a broad cross-sectionof organized labor in sional, clerical, and service work. One in Massachusetts.Almost half report 500 or seven of the locals established in 1929 or more members, and three out of four earlier, but nearly two-thirds of those have over 100. Forty percent have very established after 1950, have one-thirdor few female members,but more than one more female members. Surprisingly,we in ten are predominantly(at least 75%) found littledifference between the public female.4 In a little over one-third of the and private sectors: in 46.9% of private sector unions, 52.8% of public sector unions, and 36.4% of unions representing 2 An initialmailing was followed in one week by a members in both the public and private postcard reminder,three weeks later by a new letter and second surveyto those who had not responded, sectors,one-third or more of the members and seven weeks later by a thirdletter and surveyto are women. Private sector unions are those who had still not responded. Dillman suggests more likelyto have membershipsthat are that the third mailing be sent by certifiedmail; we at least two-thirdsfemale. did not do so both for reasons of cost and to avoid Unionized minoritywomen are concen- annoyinglocal union officials. 3 Although we do not have a copy of the list of trated primarilyin the public sector and locals we surveyed (since all work was done in the service work, particularly health care. MassachusettsAFL-CIO office),many of the surveys Three of the five locals in which minority were sent to addresses out of state,and in manycases multiple copies of the survey were sent to a single address witha single contactperson. We believe that related to the proportion of minoritiesas to the a substantialnumber of those locals are no longer proportionof women. active, or never received the survey. If such locals 5 Because we intentionally over-sampled large were eliminated,our response rate would probably locals and those believed to have high proportionsof be closer to 55%. female members, our sample cannot be taken as 4 In our sample, large locals are much more likely representativeof the "average" Massachusettslocal. than small locals to have memberships that are at Most union membersin Massachusetts,however, are least one-thirdfemale. In locals withfewer than 250 in large locals (MassachusettsAFL-CIO information). members,only 24% (9 out of 37) had one-thirdor Thus, our sample probably is a roughlyrepresenta- more female members; in locals with more than 500 tive portrait of the average member's local in members,72% percent (28 out of 39) had one-third Massachusetts.The characteristicsof the population or more female members. Minorities as well as of all locals in Massachusettsare unknown,however, women are more likelyto be found in large than in so it is impossible to determine to what extent our small locals, but the size of the local is not as strongly data accuratelyrepresent all locals.

This content downloaded from 128.119.169.202 on Wed, 31 Jul 2013 11:50:59 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 272 INDUSTRIAL AND LABOR RELATIONS REVIEW women constitute 50% or more of the potential for advancement; a concentra- membersare in health care, and the other tion of women in relativelymarginal posi- two are in manufacturingand communi- tionsindicates limited progress. In the locals cation.Twenty locals reportedno minority responding to our survey,the distribution women, 36 reported up to 15%, and 15 of women among the top four elected of- reported between 25% and 90%. All 17 ficesis uneven. Althoughwomen hold 28% locals reportinggreater than 10% minor- of all union offices,they are 14% of local itywomen in the membershiphave at least presidents,25% of vice-presidents,27% of 35% female members,and most are large treasurers,and 51 % of secretaries.Women locals withmore than 500 members. are substantiallyover-represented as secretaries and under-represented as presidents. Women in Top Level Leadership The percentageof female membersis by The simplest and most basic indicators far the best predictorof the percentage of female with of women's involvementin local leader- officers, a correlationof .73. The other factors ship are quite encouraging. In the locals examined were union in that responded to our survey, women growth,growth the number of female members, the year the local was estab- constitute32.4% of members and 28.2% lished, the percentage of minoritymem- of the top four elected officers. Thus, relative to their rank-and-filepresence, bers, the size of the local, the wage level of the women are somewhat under-represented members,the percentage of members attending and in local union leadership; but they fare meetings, public versus private sector. much better at the local level than at the None of these factorswas cor- related at national level, in this respect. (See Table a level of .35 or higher withthe of 1.) The under-representationof minori- percentage female officers. Despite the high ties is much more marked: minorities correlation between the percentage of women account for 18.7% of the membershipof members and the percentage of female officers,half of local unions, but only 7.6% of (the top the variance in the latter four elected) officers; and for minority remains unex- plained. It may be that women the figures are 10.1% and 3.8%, women are in respectively.The same pattern emerges over-represented locals with a majority of female for stewards and members of executive members and under-represented among officers in locals with a boards: the percentage of women in these of female that positions approximates the percentage of minority members; is, they need some in women in the rank-and-filemembership, may to reach "tippingpoint" the general membership before they can but minoritiesare seriously under-repre- access sented.6 gain to leadership positions.To test that When we examine the kindsof offices possibility,we repeated our analysis of women in held by women in the locals we surveyed, leadership looking separately at locals with however, our conclusions about relative differing proportions of female members We excluded equality must be qualified considerably. (Table 2). locals with no women and four Union officesvary in influence,power, and used categories for the remaining locals: those withless than 10%c-female members,those 6 Unions were asked to report on all elected with 10-39.9% women, those with 40- positions.We have included in our analysisthe four 59.9% women, and those with 60% or officesfor which information was reportedby at least 50 locals: president, vice-president,treasurer, and more women. secretary.When respondents listed more than one As Table 2 indicates, contrary to the vice-presidentor secretary,we used the information hypothesis,women are over-represented given for the firstperson listed. in leadership in locals with very fewt We do not discuss business agents because only 45 locals provided informationon that office,and the women, and are under-representedin the term "Business Agent" appears to have been inter- leadership of everyother kind of local. In preted differentlyby differentlocals. locals withless than 10% female members,

This content downloaded from 128.119.169.202 on Wed, 31 Jul 2013 11:50:59 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions WOMEN IN LOCAL UNION LEADERSHIP 273

Table 1. Women and Minoritiesas a Percentage of All Members and of Officialsin Massachusetts Union Locals, 1989. All Minorities' All (Male and Minority Description Women Female) Women All Members 32.4 18.7 10.1 Total for Top Four Elected Positions 28.2 7.6 3.8 President 14.1 5.4 3.3 Vice-president 25.0 8.0 2.3 Treasurer 26.7 7.0 2.3 Secretary 50.7 10.7 8.0 Stewards 31.4 13.3 N.A.b E-Boardsc 35.7 11.2 N.A. a "Minorities"includes African-Americans,Hispanics, Asians, and "other." b Due to lengthand space limitations,the surveydid not request informationon the proportionof stewards and executive board memberswho were minoritrywomen. c There were more missingdata for these positons than for the top four elected offices.We presume that some locals do not have E-boards. In addition, some respondentsmay have been unsure of the excact figures and skipped the question ratherthan provide theirbest estimate. women are 3.2% of members and 10.7% The four categories of union locals of top elected officers;in contrast,at the differsignificantly in termsof the kinds of other end of the range, in locals with60% offices held by women. Although in all or more female members, women are categorieswomen are over-representedas 79.1% of members but only 69.4% of top secretariesand under-representedas pres- officers.This findingis counter-intuitive, idents, a tipping point is evident in the and we have no good explanation for it. offices of president and vice-president. Note, however, that because of the small With but one exception-a female presi- numbers involved, even a single female dent of a local with a membershipthat is officer has a noticeable impact on the only 5% female-every female president results for locals with very small female and vice-presidentis in a local containing memberships. Eight of the nine female at least 40% female members. The aver- officers in those locals, moreover, are age female president represents a local secretariesor treasurers. with 66.9% female members; the average

Table 2. Women as a Percentage of Local Members and of Local Union Officersby Gender Composition of Local, 1989. Locals with Locals with Locals with Locals with 0.1-9.9% 10-39.9% 40-59.9% 60-100% Female Female Female Female Description Members Members Members Members Members 3.2 24.1 45.6 79.1 Top Four Elected Positions 10.7 17.0 35.2 69.4 President 4.3 0.0 12.5 52.9 Vice-President 0.0 0.0 34.8 81.2 Treasurer 18.2 21.4 31.8 53.3 Secretary 23.5 50.0 68.4 92.9 Stewards 5.3 9.2 30.5 66.5 E-Board 5.0 16.1 31.8 73.5 Number of Locals 23 14 24 17 Note: Six locals that did not report the percentage of women in the local and ten others that reported no female membersare omittedfrom this table.

This content downloaded from 128.119.169.202 on Wed, 31 Jul 2013 11:50:59 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 274 INDUSTRIAL AND LABOR RELATIONS REVIEW female vice-president,a local with 49.1% the top four elected offices.Even in locals female members. where women constitutea clear majority of the membership(60-100%), they hold fewer steward positions Stewards and CommitteeChairs (66.5%) than would be expected based on their mem- Two influential leadership positions bership (79.1%). withinthe local union besides those of the The findingsfor committeechairs echo top four elected officersare steward and those for the four top elected offices. committeechair. Each leadership position Women chaired 23.5% of the 268 commit- in the union derives authorityand power tees listed by our surveyrespondents; but from differing functions. Alice Cook's chairs of committees providing visibility, (1962) classic analysisof the dual structure access to information,and contact with of union governmentposits two systemsof other union leaders were substantiallyless governance within unions: (1) elected likely to be occupied by women. For officers and an executive board govern example, women chaired 100% of the intra-unionaffairs, and (2) stewards and women s committees,57% of the educa- the grievance committee are concerned tion committees,and 35% of the publicity with employer relationsand the collective committees,but only 7% of negotiation bargaining agreement. Cook argues that committees and 5.6% of grievance com- in U.S. unions power accrues to those mittees. Again, women appear to have who negotiate and administer the con- been largely excluded from influential tract-a view thatputs union stewardsand contract bargaining and administrative negotiating and grievance committee positions. (See Table 3.) chairs at center stage, alongside the local president. Because the terms and enforcementof Table3. CommitteeChairs of Massachusetts the collectivebargaining agreement signif- UnionLocals, by Gender,1989. icantlyaffect women's workingconditions, stewards and negotiating and grievance Number Percentage ofLocals of Committee committee chairs can influence how with ChairsWho unions address the most pressingconcerns Committee Committee Are Women of women in the work force. Stewards in Negotiations 58 6.9 affectthe particularcan significantly daily Grievance 54 5.6 of female work- employmentexperience Healthand Safety 37 8.1 ers, and the position of steward is a good Education 21 57.1 locus fromwhich to develop a power base COPE 20 10.0 withinthe union. Publicity 20 Because of the importance to union 35.0 women of the steward position, the per- Women'sCommittee 14 100.0 centage of female stewards relativeto the AffirmativeAction 10 20.0 proportion of union members who are Other 34a 47.1 women is a significantindicator of wom- TOTAL 268 23.5 en's inroads into local union leadership. Total numberof minoritycommittee Again, our data show that the female chairsfor all committees proportionof stewardsis nearly the same in all localsb (10.4% of as the female proportion of rank-and-file all committeechairs) 28 members (31.4% and 32.4%, respectively; a The surveycontained space forlocals to listtwo see Table 1). Also as before, however,this additional("other") committees. Some locals listed ratio varies among groups of locals classed two"other" committees, some one, and somenone. by female percentage of membership "' Due to space limitations,the surveydid not request separate informationon race for each (Table 2). In all but the first category committee.We did, however,ask for the total (0.1-9.9%), women are even more under- number of minoritiesserving as chairs in all represented as stewards than they are in committeescombined.

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MinorityWomen in to leadership positions, our survey also Union Leadership asked respondents to indicate their per- Minorities,whether men or women, are ceptions of the level of and reasons for seriously under-represented in the top women's and men's participation in the four leadership positions.7 Not surpris- union. Previous studies have suggested ingly, minoritywomen are significantly that women's participationin union lead- less likelythan other women to hold these ership is limited not only by structural positions. Table 1 shows that minority disadvantages such as job segregation, women constituteonly 3.8% of all the top women's greater responsibilityfor house- four elected officialsin our sample. These hold and family,and times and locations 13 minoritywomen are all in eight locals, of union meetings,but also by attitudinal five of which are in the health care biases of both union leaders and members industryand all of which have member- (Wertheimer and Nelson 1975; Chaison ships with at least 15% minoritywomen and Andiappan 1989). (data not shown in the tables). In our sam- In evaluating these data, it is important ple, three presidents,two vice-presidents, to remember that all of the 94 respon- two treasurers,and six secretariesare mi- dents are leaders in their own locals and noritywomen. The only three minorityfe- 66 of them are men.8 Therefore, if there male officersnot in health care locals are are locals in which significantnumbers of secretaries in a manufacturing local, a women wish to be active but are hindered broadcast local, and a local representing from doing so, those women will not be phone company workers. Six of the thir- responding to this surveyand their views teen minorityfemale officersare found in are not likely represented. A complete only two locals. In one large local in which analysiswill require a surveyof local union 90% of the membersare minoritywomen, members (the second phase of our all four top elected officersare minority project), in order to compare their re- women, and in another large local (with sponses to those of their leaders. The more than 1000 members) the president attitudes of local leaders, however, pro- and vice-presidentare minoritywomen. All vide some interestingand suggestivefind- threeminority female presidents head large ings. health care locals with membershipsthat Table 4 shows that with regard to are at least 40% minoritywomen and 50% women's participation in union leader- women. ship, virtuallyall respondents-women as In seven other locals, minoritywomen much as men-agree that "our local has constituteat least 25% of the membership made an effortto encourage more partic- but hold no elected offices. Minority ipation by women in the local" and that women reportedly make up 50% of the "more women should take initiative in membershipin two of these locals, 30% in pursuing leadership positions."Three out two others, and 25% in the remaining of four of both male and female respon- three. Only one of these locals has fewer dents agree that "the union should do than 500 members,and only one (with a more to help women enter leadership membershipthat is 40% female) has fewer positions." A similar proportion agrees than 50% female members. that "the local leadershipwants to see more women in leadership positions,"although Views of Local Leaders in thiscase men are 1 % more likelythan In addition to assessing women's access women to agree. (See Table 4.) Thus, there is a high level of agreement that 7The survey insttrumentwas not structured to obtain the data thatwould be needed for a thorough 8 analysis of the leadership experience of minority Of the 94 respondents,there were 30 presidents, women. Nonetheless, because we are interested in 2 vice-presidents, 14 secretaries, 15 secretary- thissubject and because verylittle has been published treasurers,3 treasurers,6 business agents, and 16 on it, we attemptto draw some qualified conclusions other officers.Eight respondentsdid not indicate an fromour limiteddata. officeheld.

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Table 4. Attitudesof Local Union Leaders, by Gender of Respondent, 1989. PercentAgreeing AlIen Women SurveyStatement (N = 66)a (N = 24)a Effortsby Locals Our local has made an effortto encourage more participationby women in the local. 89 92 The local leadership wants to see more women in leadership positions. 81 70 The union should do more to help women enter leadership positions. 76 74 Level of Women'sParticipation There are not enough women in elected leadership positionsin your local. 67 30* There are not enough women in appointed leadership positionsin your local. 42 27* Barriersto Women'sParticipation More women should take initiativein pursuing leadership positions. 98 95 Women who are single parents have difficultypaying for babysittersso theycan attend union activities. 68 68 Most women have less time than men have for union activitiesbecause of homemakingand childcare responsibilities. 58 70 Women have more difficultiesattending union activitiesin the evenings or directlyafter work. 48 59 The familiesof many men do not support theirinvolvement with the union. 50 40 The familiesof many women do not support their involvementwith the union. 55 52 Most women are less interestedin the union than men are because their main commitmentis to family. 40 58 More women than men use any extra time theyhave to do volunteerwork in theircommunity, schools, church,or synagogue. 30 59* Women feel less competentto assume leadership roles. 36 52 Male Leaders Women's concerns are accuratelyrepresented by male union leaders. 63 27** The union is run by an informalcircle of men who do not encourage women's participation. 15 26 a Four respondentsdid not report their gender. * Differencebetween men and women statisticallysignificant at the .05 level; ** at the .01 level. unions should incorporate women and access to elected positionsthan theydo in that they are making an effortto do so, gaining appointed positions (67% versus but that accomplishing this goal will 42%, a 25% difference). These male require more from the locals and from respondents, who are themselvesleaders female union members. in the union and responsible for appoint- Half of the female respondents are in ing members to leadership positions,thus locals in which women hold at least two apparentlybelieve that the membershipis out of four officer positions. This fact a greater source of difficultythan the helps explain a somewhat counter-intui- leadership. In contrast,the percentage of tive finding: male respondents are much female respondents who indicate that more likely than women to agree that there are too few women in elected there are not enough women in elected positions is very close to the percentage leadership positions (67% versus 30%), who indicatethat there are too fewwomen and are somewhat more likely to agree in appointed positions (30% versus 27%). that there are not enough women in Are the perceptionsof the male respon- appointedleadership positions (42% versus dents correct?Does the available evidence 27%). Further, male respondents believe indicate that their locals have fewer prob- women face greater barriers in gaining lems achieving appropriate female repre-

This content downloaded from 128.119.169.202 on Wed, 31 Jul 2013 11:50:59 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions WOMEN IN LOCAL UNION LEADERSHIP 277 sentation in appointed positions than in consensus on one crucial question: virtu- elected positions?We do not have data on ally all respondents (95% of women, 98% all appointed offices, but the data on of men) agree that more women should committee chairs provide one important take initiativein pursuing leadership posi- test. Although not shown in Table 3, in tions. the locals with male respondents, women The most interestingdifference in re- are 27.3% of the members, 19.3% of sponses between men and women con- elected officers,and 18.2% of (appointed) cerns the need to have women in leader- committeechairs. The available evidence ship positions,as indicatedby the response thus indicates that, contraryto the male to the question of whether"women's con- respondents' perceptions, in their locals cerns are accuratelyrepresented by male women are no better represented in union leaders." Sixty-threepercent of men, appointed than in elected positions. This but only 27% of women, agree with this apparent misperceptionis particularlydis- statement,a differenceof 36%. A much turbing since male respondents presum- smaller but still noteworthydifference is ably have more influence over appointed found in reactionsto a strongerstatement: positionsthan over elected positions. "The union is run by an informal circle When presented with statements that of men who do not encourage women's bear on the explanation for the low level participation."Only a minorityof respon- of women's involvement in the union, dents agree withthis statement, but women male and female respondents diverge in are more likelyto do so (26%) than men several important respects. Women are (15%).9 more likelythan men to recognize barriers posed by women's primary responsibility Conclusions for household and family care. More women than men agree that these family Although there is evidence that the commitmentsmight conflict with sched- presence of women in local union leader- uled union activitiesthat occur afterwork ship positionshas increased relativeto the or on weekends. When the double burden female percentage of rank-and-fileunion is unavoidably visible, however, men and members over the past few years, our women are in accord: 68% of both groups research underscores the importance of agree that the responsibilitiesof single several considerationsbesides simple pro- parents-particularly single mothers- portional representation.First, our find- make it difficultfor them to participate ings, in conjunctionwith those of previous fullyin the union. Female respondentsare studies, suggest that women are less well more sensitivethan male respondents to represented in leadership at the national women's lack of confidence in their own level than at the local level. Second, leadership abilities. although our survey of officialsat AFL- Probably because of the small sample, CIO-affiliated locals in Massachusetts statisticallysignificant differences between shows that women fillleadership positions the answers of male and female respon- in those locals in numbers nearly propor- dents were found on only a few survey tional to their membership, our results items-specifically, the following state- also show thatwomen are more commonly ments: there are not enough women in found in relativelymarginal positions than elected or appointed leadership positions in influentialpositions-secretary, for ex- (p < .05); more women than men use extra time to do volunteer work in their 9 Preliminaryanalyses indicate that the respon- community,schools, church, or synagogue dent's gender and the percentage of women in the (p < .01); and women's concerns are membership are the best predictorsof the respon- accurately represented by male union dent's views. Local characteristicssuch as the percentage of female officers, type of work, public < leaders (p .01). Perhaps more striking versus privatesector, year the union was established, than these differencesbetween male and and extentof membershipgrowth bear littlerelation- female respondents, however, is their ship to leadership views. See Eriksen (1991).

This content downloaded from 128.119.169.202 on Wed, 31 Jul 2013 11:50:59 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 278 INDUSTRIAL AND LABOR RELATIONS REVIEW ample, or chair of the education commit- Almost all local leaders in our sample tee, rather than president,or chair of the feel that the union is making an effortto negotiation committee (a finding consis- incorporate women, but that women tentwith Chaison and Andiappan's [1987] themselves could do more to become findingsin their study of women in local leaders." With respect to the perceived leadership of Canadian unions). We find, urgency of the need for more women in too, thatwomen are under-representedas leadership positions, however, male and stewards-an influentialposition that is a female respondents appear to part ways. traditional pathway to higher office. Sixty-threepercent of male respondents Third, minority women in our sample agree with the statement that "women's appear to suffereven greatermarginaliza- concerns are accurately represented by tion than women in general, usually male union leaders," compared to only gaining elected positions only in unions 27% of female respondents. It seems with significantproportions of members unlikely that leaders who think they are who are also female minorities.Overall, adequately representingthe needs of their the positions that women hold only mini- female constituentswill see a compelling mallyafford them experience,visibility, or need to encourage women's involvement the opportunityto make contacts or do in more influential leadership positions. favors essential to moving up into more For women to be encouraged and enabled responsible and influentialpositions. to fully participate in union leadership Most union leaders in our sample, both there must first be a sense that it is male and female, express a wish for more importantfor women to do so. Communi- participation by women, and feel that cating to union leaders the importanceof their local has made an effortto incorpo- increasing the numbers of women in rate women as leaders. But there is clearly union leadership remainsa significanttask room for more progress, particularlyin for the labor movementand labor educa- promoting women to higher office, re- tors. cruitingthem into key lower-levelleader- ship positions, and providing leadership and skill trainingto assistthem.'0 sets of skills the respondents deemed necessary for local leaders to possess. Labor education programs most frequentlyrequested were programs on political action, building membershipinvolvement, grievance handling, negotiatingcontracts, and stewards' 10 As part of our survey,respondents were asked training.Locals also expressed interestin programs to identifythe skillsthey believed were required for on specific topics such as alcohol and substance effective leadership and to indicate which skills abuse, the introductionof new technology,and pay would be most useful to their members. Although equity. " the responses to these questions are not central to For a compelling alternative vision of what our concerns here, several results are noteworthy. unions must do, see Feldberg (1987). Cobble (1990) Union building (activating the membership) and provides historicalevidence that supports Feldberg's bargainingand contractadministration were the two analysis.

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