Neo-Liberalism and the Working Girl: The Dilemmas of Women and the Australian Union Movement

In 1987, amid the worst drop in trade union membership since the Great Depression, the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) committed itself to a massive reorganization of the labour movement designed to increase union membership and modernize union structures and practices. This process of renewal hinged, at least in part, on the labour movement's commitment to organize and better represent women workers. This article argues that when …