Unions, Equity, and the Path to Renewal

by Janice R. Foley (Editor), Patricia L. Baker (Editor)

Trade unions in Canada are losing their traditional support base, and membership numbers could sink to US levels unless unions recapture their power. Unions, Equity, and the Path to Renewal brings together a distinguished group of union activists and equity scholars who trace how traditional union cultures, practices, and structures have eroded solidarity and activism and created an equity deficit in Canadian unions. Informed by a feminist vision of unions as instruments of social justice, the contributors argue that equity within unions is not simply one possible path to union renewal – it is the only way to reposition organized labour as a central institution in workers’ lives.

Genres: Nonfiction

264 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2010

Reviews

[Rissa (rissasreading) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.4 - I feel like this book needs an updated copy to come out because a lot of the things talked about here felt more reflective than they felt like an analysis. I think it would just be interesting to see today how things have gotten better/worse for unionizing efforts and how women are represented by them and within them as leaders. My biggest complaint about this book though was that for a book that starts the introduction off by saying that it'll center voices from racialized individuals, it really only felt like two chapters actually centered and focused on those individuals. Overall, I didn't find that I took much away from this book as it moreso felt like it reinforced and confirmed some thoughts I had.