UNIONS EMPOWERMENT OF WORKING-CLASS WOMEN - A CASE-STUDY

This research examines union membership's possible empowerment of unsk illed women and these workers' access to positions of power within uni on locals. The women worked as custodians, clerks, and cafeteria worke rs at a public, urban university and were members of the Communication Workers of America or the United Auto Workers unions. We found that t hese workers recognized the union's ability to limit the administratio n's power over their workforce. However, the women typically chose soc ial commitments over union participation; gender, race, and job status also acted as barriers to workers' achieving positions of power in th eir union locals. These findings suggest that unions attempting to app eal to increasing female memberships should adopt more decentralized a nd participatory organizational structures to attract and empower wome n workers.