Women workers close the union gender gap

Women have closed the trade union membership gender gap, according to a report to be presented to the TUC Womenís Conference which opens later today (Wednesday) in Scarborough.

A womanís place is in a union reveals that the proportion of working women in trade unions is now 29.3 per cent compared to 29.4 per cent amongst working men, according to the governmentís Labour Force Survey (showing a statistically insignificant 0.1 per cent union gender gap, down from 3.7 per cent in 1997).

Female trade unionists from across the UK will be heading for the East Yorkshire town today to attend the 75th conference organised by the TUC where numerous issues of importance to working women will be debated. Over the three days, the 300 delegates will discuss a wide range of topics including pensions, pregnancy discrimination, flexible working and the long hours culture, bullying at work, and elder abuse.

A womanís place is in a union says that since 1997 female membership of trade unions has grown by 312,000 to 3,475,000, while male membership has fallen by 193,000 to 3,592,000. (Women make up 47% of the workforce today and 69% of women of working age are in paid employment, according to the report.)

Detailed analysis of the figures show that womenís membership has grown because younger women are more likely to join unions than men. Among 25 to 34 year olds the gender gap runs at 4.1% in favour of women, while it still favours men among older age groups.

Unions are good for women, the report argues. It cites research that shows that unionised workplaces are more likely than non-union workplaces to have equal opportunity policies, offer access to parental leave, provide financial help with childcare, monitor promotions, and pay women more.

But the report says that unions cannot afford to be complacent. The growth of public sector employment, which will not continue to grow at the same rate in future, has been a major source of new women union members, whilst unions trying to recruit women in the private service sectors face a greater challenge.

TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber, who will address the conference on Friday, said: Unions have quietly closed the gender gap amongst their members and put the concerns of working women such as equal pay, childcare and flexible working high on our campaign agenda.

Given that many women work part time - a group that unions have always found hard to recruit - this is an impressive achievement. But there is no room for complacency. Recruitment will become more difficult with likely changes in the job market, and we must always beware of promoting an overly male and macho image to potential members.