Jane Parker

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.

The meaning of 'employee engagement' for the values and roles of the HRM function

Employee engagement has become a dominant part of the vocabulary of human resource management (HRM), yet there has been little investigation of the implications of this for HRM in organisations. This article analyses a case study of an initiative at New Zealand Post designed to improve the engagement and performance of supervisory staff. It makes two important contributions to the development of the nascent literature. First, it suggests that effective engagement initiatives require political astuteness and commitment on the part of HR. This is because they require a clear business case focused on performance, not merely engagement itself, and an evidence-based approach to design and implementation. This potential appears to be furthered by the commonly observed restructuring of HRM into a ‘business partner’ role. Second, a purposive approach to employee engagement involves HR interrogating the employment relationship to address fundamental issues of employee voice, work design and management agency. This can introduce complications, and resistance, into the partnership with management, but it also offers a means to reconcile ‘soft’ (employee-centred) HRM values to ‘hard’ (performance) concerns around specific change management initiatives. Employee engagement thus need not constitute unitarist subterfuge, but rather something of a ‘neo-pluralist’ turn in the values and activities of HRM.

Towards Equality and Renewal: Women’s Groups, Diversity and Democracy in British Unions:

Discussion of union equality and democracy usually locates women’s group (WG) organizing as a special representative form within unions. This study focuses on the extent to which WGs themselves address the interests of diverse constituent groups. Data from a national survey of Trades Union Congress affiliates were used to map WGs across unions and analyse the attention they give to group diversity relative to gender in pursuit of equality and better interest representation. It emerged that most members belong to unions where WGs tackle diversity to some extent. Implications for WG and union renewal strategy, research and theory are examined.

We're on a Road to Somewhere: Women's Groups in Unions

Womens groups (WGs) provide a platform from which women can develop their strengths, advance their concerns and access empowering positions. Academic attention to WGs in British unions has recently increased, reflecting their expansion and growing union responsiveness to female members. However, the meaning of WGs for unions remains under-researched. This article examines this using case studies of two major unions and a range of their WGs based on a typology of equality ideas and model of union organisation.

Can Women’s Structures Help New Zealand and UK Trade Unions’ Revival?

In recent decades, UK and New Zealand unions have tried valiantly to counter dwindling membership and political clout. However, their revival strategies have stemmed, rather than convincingly reversed, such measures of union decline. This study draws on national survey, interviews, union documentation and website material from New Zealand and the UK to compare the extent and nature of a relationship between the activities of collective structures for women within unions and unions’ revival efforts. It emerges that, mediated by context, women’s structures positively contribute to union revival strategies in both countries. Further, this occurs not just in terms of quantitative and external outcomes, but also in the qualitative processes of engaging members. The findings inform a discussion of future directions for revival strategies and of the adequacy of union vitality gauges themselves.

The Trades Union Congress and civil alliance building: towards social movement unionism?

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine why and how the Trades Union Congress (TUC) – the labour movements peak body, “think tank” and exemplar – engages in alliance building with civil movements and groups. In particular, it investigates: the rationale for such; the nature of the alliances and the extent to which they inform TUC revival efforts or a new approach to trade unionism.Design/methodology/approach – Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with eight senior TUC personnel. Most interviewees provided documentary evidence to elaborate on their comments. The dimensions of a thematic analysis of this and web site evidence were structured to reflect the above areas of inquiry.Findings – The findings are that: interest in the TUC and labour movement in alliance building with civil groups is building at all levels; TUC engagement with, promotion of and guidance on civil alliances is largely emergent and sporadic; notwithstanding this, certain parts of the TUC have increased its promotion of...

Equality and diversity in employment relations: do we practise what we preach?

Purpose – The pursuit of equality and valuing of diversity are central tenets of much organisational thinking and public policy development. However, in this current age of austerity we are witnessing a number of existing and proposed “fairness initiatives” feeling the sharp blade of a cost‐cutting axe. This paper is a reflexive response that aims to examine a piece of action research in the field of industrial relations. It aims to take the professional UK association, the British Universities Industrial Relations Association (BUIRA), as a case study and consider how issues of equality and diversity have been viewed by the organisation both in theory and practice. Using a framework which acknowledges the need for multiple levels of analysis (macro, meso and micro) and which argues for an intersectional approach, the paper seeks to detail the measures adopted by BUIRA so as to augment its organisational responsiveness to various equality and diversity concerns. It also provides an insight into how the aut...

Reaching Out for Strength within? ‘Social Movement Unionism’ in a Small Country Setting

Trade unions around the developed world face common challenges in terms of declining membership and influence, and ‘conventional’ union revival strategies have yielded limited success. A relatively recent innovation has been the embrace of ‘social movement unionism’ (SMU), which challenges traditional workplace conceptions of trade union roles via alliances with campaigning civil society organisations. This empirical study examines how SMU is conceived and applied in a small country context, focusing on the role of the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions. The findings suggest that SMU can appeal to trade union associations in smaller national (or regional) settings owing to a combination of institutional and size effects which concentrate networks. This has implications for unions and union federations interested in advancing both workplace and wider social justice concerns.

Are we being served? Women in New Zealand's service sector

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide contemporary information and analysis of womens location within the service sector of New Zealand; to evaluate the responsiveness of two major policy initiatives designed to ameliorate womens circumstances therein; and to reconceptualise and suggest possible approaches and measures which could inform future government and workplace policy and practice.Design/methodology/approach – The study primarily employs a thematic analysis of publicly‐available reports, documentation and pertinent academic work. Secondary, independent statistical analyses of nationally‐representative data are used in order to provide the context and rationale for the policy analysis, and to overview key trends and “problem” areas in the service sector for working women in New Zealand.Findings – New Zealand has a high female labour force participation rate, with more than eight out of 10 female workers employed in service work. Although women remain over‐represented in low‐paid work,...

Contemporary Collective Regulation and Working Women in New Zealand

Women’s labour force participation in New Zealand is one of the highest in the developed world. Yet women remain over-represented and segregated within certain sectors and occupations, with implications for the gender pay gap and their location in vulnerable employment. This article examines the nature and impacts of recent collective regulatory forms of particular relevance to working women. Drawing on interview and documentary evidence, it finds that formal employment relations regulation has ‘thinned’ and, all things being equal, looks unlikely to significantly ameliorate women’s work and wider circumstances. The article evaluates how collective regulation might be reconceptualized and extended to this broad end.