Organising in Home Care What can be learned from working in highly gendered work arenas?

Organising in Home Care

What can be learned from working in highly gendered work arenas?

BRISTOL2007

450 T&G members

600 workers

Part time

598 women, 2 men

Average age early 50s

Why might unions be interested in Home care?

• Social care and logistics fastest growing industrial sectors

• Atypical union members

• Riddled with issues

• US examples in social care

• Low paid, poorly organised

• Most highly gender segregated of occupations in public sector

• Supra-local – rooted in the community

Does gender matter in organising?

• Do we need to take the same approach in organising male and female workers?

what gives these workers power?

how can we build leverage against the employer?

how can we give these women confidence that they can win?

how do we give them control of the campaign?

Gender is a key industrial

issueHome care work is ‘women’s work’

Equal pay claims are driving privatisation

Fragmented ‘feminised’ work patterns prevail

Cross party campaigning – appealing to left and right

Building alliances with community groups

Mainstreaming gendered, relational arguments

Mobilisation was critical

Physical presence of ‘hidden workers’

Utilising workers’ resources

Strong media presence

Qualitative over quantitative justice

Gendered organising?

• Strike action can harm women workers

• Non-hierarchical organisational form

• Engaging with emotions built confidence

• Fluidity of leadership

• Gendered, Relational arguments

• Women can win at work – we need to give a high profile to examples