Collective Bargaining and Gender Equality

Collective bargaining has been a major force in delivering social justice and decent work in the workplace. However, the role of collective bargaining in achieving gender equality in the workplace is relatively under-researched.

In this book, Jane Pillinger and Nora Wintour investigate the complex and expanding area of collective union action for women’s rights in the workplace. They explore how the feminization of unions in both developing and developed countries is changing bargaining agendas to address such issues as equal pay for work of equal value, work–life balance, maternity and parental leave rights, non-discrimination in access to employment, and the spill-over of domestic violence into the workplace.

The authors examine recent policy developments by the International Labour Organization, the United Nations, and the European Union, alongside many examples of national and industry-specific collective agreements to showcase how collective bargaining can be an effective tool for progressing equality in the workplace.

Jane Pillinger is an independent researcher and a former visiting professor in gender studies at the London School of Economics and a senior research fellow in the Department of Social Policy and Criminology at the Open University.

Nora Wintour, a former senior trade union official, is an independent researcher, writer and policy advisor on child labour, women in the informal economy, workers' rights and gender inequality.