Collective Bargaining and Gender Equality

“Women constitute the largest number of low-paid, part-time workers in precarious employment in both the developed and developing world. Historically, collective bargaining through unionization has been a major force in negotiating and delivering social justice, decent work, and fair wages in the workplace. However, the role of collective bargaining in achieving gender equality in the workplace is relatively underresearched. There are critical successes and notable challenges of collective bargaining for gender equality that deserve closer analysis, such as equal pay for work of equal value, work-life balance, maternity and parental leave rights, nondiscrimination in access to employment and the spillover of domestic violence into the workplace. In this short, policy-oriented book, Jane Pillinger and Nora Wintour present data and evidence that demonstrates the complex and expanding areas of global action and policy making for women’s rights. They explore how the feminization of unions in both developing and developed countries is changing their bargaining agenda; the recent policy developments in institutions such as the ILO, EU and UN; and potential solutions to tackle some of the challenges using case studies to propose a vision for the development of collective bargaining as a tool for equality in the workplace.”–Provided by publisher.