Women’s participation in teacher unions: Implications of a ‘triple burden’ for union gender equality strategies

Amidst declining union influence, teacher unions have retained power. However, work intensification, arising from increasing reform in school education, has potentially undermined union participation, particularly women’s. Using a mixed-method approach, this article examines how the tangled combination of women’s paid work, union participation and family/domestic responsibilities (the ‘triple burden’) affects women’s roles as unionists. Examining the case of Australian teachers, the article finds that while demands of ‘work’ and ‘life’ can stifle union participation, it is specifically the cultural and historical legacies in unions that hinder women’s participation. The findings offer new insights around issues affecting the participation of women in female-dominated unions, and the intersection between union organisation and operation and the member-workers whom they represent.

After Janus: Teachers’ Unions, Walkouts, and Social Justice Unionism

Recent union-supported teachers’ walkouts and strikes across several U.S. states and cities highlighted union-led and grassroots efforts to amplify teachers’ voices. Yet, the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision, Janus v. AFSCME, Council 31, provides a strength test for teachers’ unions and members engaging in social justice/equity work within a post- Janus landscape. This article first explores traditional functions of teachers’ unions. Next, it examines Janus and potential consequences for union participation, teachers’ advocacy, and civil rights. Using a social justice lens, the article discusses how and why unions may need to consider strengthening “social justice unionism” by building on walkouts and strikes.

Operationalizing the antecedents and outcomes of union participation in the Indian context

Purpose Unions and organizations interests are often seen to be in competition. However, union-voice hypothesis suggests that unions can provide a distinctive mechanism to lower organizational costs by reducing exit behavior, absence from work and conflict levels at work. This study aims to look at union participation as a form of voice which is affected by a number of antecedents and in turn has an effect upon the workers performance (i.e. worker behavior effectiveness [WBE]) in an organization. Design/methodology/approach The study draws on data from 340 permanent labors working in 19 manufacturing units across different regions of India to explore both the antecedents and outcomes of union participation. Hypotheses are tested using mediation analysis. Findings Results indicate statistically significant relationships between union participation, its antecedents and WBE, with union participation partially influencing the relationship between the constructs. Originality/value Uniqueness of the study lies in its findings which report positive relationship among union participation, its antecedents and behavior effectiveness. Contrary to the traditional belief that unions are detrimental to the health of any organization, the study suggests that workers decision to join and participate in unions should be viewed positively because only if a person is willing to stay with the organization, he/she seeks to resolve the issues/problems through collective mechanism of union participation and which in turn leads to enhanced performance, reduced absenteeism at the workplace.

Organising experience of informal sector workers – a road less travelled

PurposeThis paper uses the Social Identity Model of Collective Action (SIMCA) framework of Zomeren et al. (2008) to explain the organising experiences of the informal sector workers engaged in large number in the world's largest shipbreaking industry located in the western Indian town of Alang.Design/methodology/approachA single case study approach was adopted to understand the participation of shipbreaking workers in their trade union and factors that influence their participation.FindingsSense of cohesive collective identity and injustice alongside efficacy considerations have shaped the organising experiences and affected the participation of informal sector workers in their union. The trade union was able to overcome the scourge of invisibility that has been one of the dominant features of informal sector employment.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper treated union participation as unidimensional. Besides, the subjective conceptualization of strengths of perceptions of injustice, identities and efficacy considerations could be a limitation. The paper does acknowledge the gendered nature of shipbreaking but have not actively pursued it as a part of our research.Practical implicationsThe findings of our study are an exemplar for those who intend to organise informal sector workers, especially precarious workers. The empirical findings allude to the role of trade unions in combating the invisibility, which is one of the defining features of informal sector workers through a distinctive, cohesive identity inculcated in those workers.Originality/valueThis paper has borrowed the SIMCA framework to explore union participation. Organising experiences of precarious workers from the developing world provides a contextual and an empirical novelty to our study.

Militancy of nurses in the institutionality field: printed media versions

ABSTRACT Objectives: to analyze nurses’ professional militancy in the institutionality field, presented by the printed media from Bahia State in the 1970s and 1980s. Methods: a historical and qualitative research under Social History’s perspective, whose data source was the newspaper A Tarde. The temporal cut-off encompasses milestones such as professional body restructuring and creation. Results: the Associação Brasileira de Enfermagem democratization movement was reported in a superficial way, highlighting the struggle for power spaces. With respect to Conselhos Federal e Regional de Enfermagem daBahia, the newspaper notified creation and function of bodies, however, there was no visibility to the newspaper’s performance. Concerning the union, there was political fragility of nurses against the creation and union participation in the fight for labor rights. Final Considerations: organization of political action occurred from isolated groups mobilization of professionals who were already traveling in political spaces, not the large mass of professionals.

LIMITES E CONTRIBUIÇÕES DA EDUCAÇÃO PARA A FORMAÇÃO DE TRABALHADORES

Por meio do presente artigo pretende-se examinar os processos de formação a que são submetidos membros da classe trabalhadora partindo-se do pressuposto que estes não se esgotam na educação escolar. Com esse objetivo são discutidas as transformações de caráter neoliberal pelas quais passou o capitalismo tendo em vista o enfrentamento da crise da década de 1970, considerando que estas promoveram alterações na formação profissional dos trabalhadores bem como na estrutura do emprego e na constituição/composição da classe trabalhadora originária da organização taylorista-fordista do trabalho. Hoje tal classe, não apenas no Brasil, mas também no plano internacional, é constituída majoritariamente pelos trabalhadores de serviços e se caracteriza por sua complexidade e heterogeneidade, assim como pelo enfraquecimento de sua participação sindical e de suas ações coletivas de natureza política. Os próprios sindicatos foram profundamente afetados. Nessa nova configuração instituem-se processos formativos adequados à organização flexível das empresas, as quais investem pesadamente na subjetividade dos trabalhadores, processos esses que encontram eco na sociabilidade de caráter neoliberal e, inclusive, nas propostas educacionais que a valorizam. Defende-se que, contrariamente a estas, seja fortalecida a concepção gramsciana de formação integral, mas, também que, para tal fim, a educação se articule com outras agências sociais.Palavras-chave: Formação do trabalhador. Classe trabalhadora século XXI. Sindicalização. LIMITS AND CONTRIBUTIONS OF EDUCATION TO WORKER FORMATIONAbstractThis article intends to examine the processes of formation to which members of the working class are subjected, assuming that they do not exhaust themselves in school education. With this objective, the neoliberal transformation that capitalism underwent in order to cope with the crisis of the 1970s are discussed, considering that they promoted changes in the professional formation of workers as well as in the structure of employment and in the constitution/composition of the working class from the Taylorist-Fordist organization of labor. Today, such a class, not only in Brazil, but also internationally, is made up mostly of service workers and is characterized by its complexity and heterogeneity, as well as the weakening of its union participation and its collective political actions. The unions themselves were deeply affected. In this new configuration, formative processes are instituted adapted to the flexible enterprise organization, which invest heavily in the workers' subjectivity, processes that are echoed in the neoliberal sociability and even in the educational proposals that value it. It is argued that, contrary to these, the Gramscian conception of integral formation is strengthened, but also that, to this end, education articulates with other social agencies.Keywords: Worker formation. 21st century working class. Unionization.LÍMITES Y CONTRIBUCIONES DE LA EDUCACIÓN A LA FORMACIÓN DE LOS TRABAJADORESResumenEste artículo pretende examinar los procesos de formación a los que están sujetos los miembros de la clase trabajadora, suponiendo que no se agoten en la educación escolar. Con esta finalidad, se discuten las transformaciones neoliberales que sufrió el capitalismo para hacer frente a la crisis de la década de 1970, considerando que promovieron cambios en la formación profesional de los trabajadores, así como en la estructura del empleo y en la constitución/composición de la clase que tiene origen en la organización de trabajo taylorista-fordista. Hoy, tal clase, no solo en Brasil, sino también internacionalmente, está compuesta principalmente por trabajadores de servicios y se caracteriza por su complejidad y heterogeneidad, así como por el debilitamiento de su participación sindical y sus acciones políticas colectivas. Los propios sindicatos se vieron profundamente afectados. En esta nueva configuración, se instituyen procesos de capacitación apropiados para la organización flexible de las empresas, que invierten mucho en la subjetividad de los trabajadores, procesos que se hacen eco en la sociabilidad neoliberal e incluso en propuestas educativas que lo valoran. Se argumenta que, contrariamente a esto, se fortalece la concepción gramsciana de la formación integral, pero también que, para este fin, la educación sea articulada con otras agencias sociales.Palabras clave: Capacitación laboral. Clase obrera del siglo XXI. Sindicalización.

How union participation influences union commitment and job involvement

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to draw on triadic reciprocal determinism and social exchange theory to examine how “induced-type” and “compulsory-type” union participation influence union commitment and job involvement, and how union participation in the west differs from that in China. It also examines whether the role of both organizational justice and employee participation climate (EPC) functions in the Chinese context. Design/methodology/approach Cross-sectional data are collected from 694 employees in 46 non-publicly owned enterprises, both Chinese and foreign, in the Pearl River Delta region of China. A multi-level moderated mediation test is used to examine the model of this research. Findings Union participation is positively related to organizational justice, union commitment and job involvement. In addition, organizational justice acts as the mediator among union participation, union commitment and job involvement. Specifically, the mediating role of organizational justice between union participation and union commitment, and between union participation and job involvement, is stronger in high-EPC contexts than low-EPC contexts. Originality/value Instead of examining the impacts of attitudes on union participation, as per most studies in the western context, this research examines the impacts of union participation in the Chinese context on attitudes, including union commitment and job involvement. It also reveals the role of both organizational justice and EPC in the process through which union participation influences union commitment and job involvement.