Alice H. Cook

THE MOST DIFFICULT REVOLUTION: WOMEN AND TRADE UNIONS

Historically trade unions were in the forefront of social reform, campaigning against child labour, against the 12‐hour day and for free public education and universal suffrage. But with their achievement of great power and influence in the modern societies they have been less sensitive to the present day exploited and oppressed — to women and guestworkers and all those foreign in colour and language, in customs, sex and tastes. To be sure these groups are often unfamiliar with unions, and reluctant to join them even if invited because of the fear of employer reprisal and their weak position in the labour market. Characterised as they have been by transiency, dependency and divided loyalties, the unions long wished them away or accepted them if they behaved like native men, that is to say in an understandable way and with acceptable rationality. Although the similarities between the problems of women and foreign workers or workers of colour in the labour markets of the industrialised countries is an intriguing study, we shall here look specifically at the case of women, recognising the while that their problems are not unique and their oppression not unprecedented.

Public Policies to Help Dual-Earner Families Meet the Demands of the Work World.

This paper focuses on the problems of families in which both spouses work, which have grown rapidly as a percentage of all families in recent decades. The author argues that the United States has been conspicuous among advanced industrialized countries in failing to develop national policies responsive to the needs of such families, and that the few enlightened employers, states, municipalities, and private organizations that have attempted to correct for that omission have been able to do so only incompletely. She cites examples of programs in some European countries that provide for child care, maternity and parental leave, leave for care of sick family members, transportation to and from work, and special housing, and argues that the proven experience of other countries should be helpful in fashioning needed programs of this sort in the United States.

The World of women's trade unionism : comparative historical essays

This book is a timely contribution to the study of the impact of trade unionism on women in the work force and how women have exercised power within trade unions. This collection of essays contains brief yet comprehensive histories of womens trade union movements in many of the principal industrial nations of the world--Britain, France, Germany, Sweden, Japan, Argentina, Italy, and the United States. The authors survey the impact of the cult of true womanhood on the growth of trade unionism. Each author analyzes the relationship between early womens trade unions and guilds, identifies the important leaders, and explains how ideologies affected the expansion of trade unions. Among other subjects treated are the movements relationship to the feminist movement, the effects of economic depression and rationalization of industry, womens attitudes toward protective legislation and political action, and the effect of the womens liberation movement of the 1960s and 1970s. Finally, the authors assess the advances made as the result of equal-pay legislation and progress in the areas of training, promotion, safety, child-care, maternity leave, and reentry into the work force.

The International Labor Organization and Japanese Politics

Examines the relationship between the International Labor Organization (ILO) and Japan, focusing on Japans commitment to the ratification of ILO conventions. Background on the trade unions in Japan; Labor relations law included in the Japanese labor functions; Issues raised by Conventions number 87. (Abstract copyright EBSCO.)

The ILO and Japanese Politics, II: Gain or Loss for Labor?

Examines the impact of the ratification of the International Labor Organizations (ILOs) Convention number 87 on the unions of teachers and local government employees in Japan. Distinction that Japanese law makes between direct government employees and employees of government corporations; Scope of bargaining between government and unions; Change brought by the ILO Convention to labor relations in the public service sector of Japan. (Abstract copyright EBSCO.)

Book Review: Labor Organizations: The Rank-and-File LeaderThe Rank-and-File Leader. By PeckSidney M.. New Haven: College and University Press Services, Inc., 1963. 398 pp.

ties in the social structure of Asia may make this dualistic type of union organization peculiarly well fitted for the Asian scene. Stephen Low writes on the role of unions in the newly independent countries of Africa. The union movement was largely imported from abroad; it was so weak that it could not effectively oppose industry, but it gained public support by opposing the white man and his colonial government. Thus unions became more antigovernment than antiindustry. Now that independence has come to much of Africa, unions are still too weak to oppose industry singlehandedly, and must rely on influencing government to gain welfare legislation. Under these circumstances labor is lucky indeed if it manages to remain independent. This review has demonstrated the weakness of such collections of essays: the lack of continuity and therefore the lack of depth since no one subject can be pursued at length. But the strength of ten essays, each by a specialist in his area, is also obvious. Since almost all the authors have spent long periods in government service, this probably influenced them to overemphasize political aspects of the union movement. A greater emphasis on economic and cultural factors peculiar to the area and on the economic functions of unions would have strengthened several of the essays. In spite of this shortcoming, the book remains an excellent source on important developments in the postwar labor movement. WILLIs D. WEATHERFORD