This text argues that real equality between the sexes at work requires building a fairer form of trade unionism to resist those strategies and policies which worsen the situaton of the low-paid worker (women and men), and weaken the ability of trade unions to protect the most vulnerable - in short, those strategies which uncritically permit labour market deregulation. By comparing the position of women in the Australian labour market with that of their sisters in Sweden and the United States, it sounds a note of warning against those "feminist" demands which can be raised to sharpen competition between individuals in the name of equality between the sexes. The book presents evidence that Australian women have much to learn from Sweden, where high levels of trade union membership and comprehensive policies of wage fixing go hand-in-hand with improving the situation of the low paid, and the provision of adequate child care and parental leave - all outcomes which have produced significant and enduring reductions in the inequality between the sexes which remains a determining feature of the Australian workforce.
- ISBN10 0043020054
- ISBN13 9780043020050
- Publish Date 1 March 1988
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 20 November 2002
- Publish Country AU
- Imprint Allen & Unwin
- Format Paperback (UK Trade)
- Pages 188
- Language English