Understanding caring, organizing women: how framing a problem shapes union strategy

Abstract

Unions need more women members in order to grow. To organize and represent women, however, unions have to understand their different identities, issues and relationships at work. Using the concept of framing, in a case study of union organizing amongst child care workers, this article argues that unions struggle to define the scope and nature of a problem in ways that appeal to prospective women members and mobilize support for union-proposed solutions. The article explores how one union attempts to organize child care workers from diverse employment settings with divergent interests into a coalition with parents behind demands for a universal child care system.