Unionised women get better deal at work

Women in unionised workplaces are much better off in terms of flexible working arrangements, general support for family responsibilities and in their employers' commitment to equal opportunities than those in non-union workplaces, according to the results of the latest Workplace Industrial Relations Survey, analysed by the Centre for Economic Performance.

Unionised employers are three times more likely to offer job-sharing schemes than firms without a union - women in 50% of workplaces with union recognition have this entitlement, compared to only 15% in workplaces where there is no recognition.

Almost two-thirds (64%) of union employers offer the possibility of switching from full-time to part-time work, compared to 42% of non-unionised workplaces.

Formal equal opportunities policies are in place in almost all (91%) of workplaces where a union is recognised, in comparison with 54% of non-recognised workplaces.

There are also indications from the survey that women may do better in breaking the "glass ceiling" into management jobs where there is a union. About one in seven managers in unionised employers said that the proportion of women in managerial posts had risen significantly in the last five years, compared to only one in 10 without unions.

CentrePiece, summer 2000, is published by the Centre for Economic Performance, London School of Economics and Political Science, Houghton Street, London, WC2A 2AE, telephone: 020 7955 7798.