Beyond density: Improving European trade unions’ representativeness through gender quotas
Autor(a) principal: | |
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Data de Publicação: | 2023 |
Outros Autores: | |
Tipo de documento: | Artigo |
Idioma: | eng |
Título da fonte: | Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) |
Texto Completo: | http://hdl.handle.net/10071/30021 |
Resumo: | Trade unions’ legitimacy is rooted in membership, since unions result from the organization of workers who found they were stronger through a collective voice. Accordingly, union representativeness has been assessed primarily through ‘density’ – the ratio of union members to the total workforce. We argue that density is crucial but insufficient. First, the decline in trade union membership jeopardizes internal legitimacy; second, unions have developed external legitimacy when acting beyond their members. Inspired by the multifaceted concept of ‘political representation’, we suggest a fairer approach which adds the composition of unions’ boards – beginning with gender – to density whenever unions act on behalf of all workers. Specifically, we contend that trade unions willing to take part in the European negotiations should adopt gender quotas on their boards. This approach is likely to stimulate equality in the labour market, while contributing to unions’ revitalization, thus fostering the quality of democratic institutions. |
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Beyond density: Improving European trade unions’ representativeness through gender quotasTrade unionsGender quotasDensityRepresentationEuropean social dialogueTrade unions’ legitimacy is rooted in membership, since unions result from the organization of workers who found they were stronger through a collective voice. Accordingly, union representativeness has been assessed primarily through ‘density’ – the ratio of union members to the total workforce. We argue that density is crucial but insufficient. First, the decline in trade union membership jeopardizes internal legitimacy; second, unions have developed external legitimacy when acting beyond their members. Inspired by the multifaceted concept of ‘political representation’, we suggest a fairer approach which adds the composition of unions’ boards – beginning with gender – to density whenever unions act on behalf of all workers. Specifically, we contend that trade unions willing to take part in the European negotiations should adopt gender quotas on their boards. This approach is likely to stimulate equality in the labour market, while contributing to unions’ revitalization, thus fostering the quality of democratic institutions.SAGE Publications2023-12-18T12:08:43Z2023-01-01T00:00:00Z20232023-12-18T12:08:06Zinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/articleapplication/pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/10071/30021eng0959-680110.1177/09596801231187270Rego, R.Espírito-Santo, A.info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessreponame:Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)instname:Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informaçãoinstacron:RCAAP2023-12-24T01:20:20Zoai:repositorio.iscte-iul.pt:10071/30021Portal AgregadorONGhttps://www.rcaap.pt/oai/openaireopendoar:71602024-03-20T00:55:46.967314Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) - Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informaçãofalse |
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv |
Beyond density: Improving European trade unions’ representativeness through gender quotas |
title |
Beyond density: Improving European trade unions’ representativeness through gender quotas |
spellingShingle |
Beyond density: Improving European trade unions’ representativeness through gender quotas Rego, R. Trade unions Gender quotas Density Representation European social dialogue |
title_short |
Beyond density: Improving European trade unions’ representativeness through gender quotas |
title_full |
Beyond density: Improving European trade unions’ representativeness through gender quotas |
title_fullStr |
Beyond density: Improving European trade unions’ representativeness through gender quotas |
title_full_unstemmed |
Beyond density: Improving European trade unions’ representativeness through gender quotas |
title_sort |
Beyond density: Improving European trade unions’ representativeness through gender quotas |
author |
Rego, R. |
author_facet |
Rego, R. Espírito-Santo, A. |
author_role |
author |
author2 |
Espírito-Santo, A. |
author2_role |
author |
dc.contributor.author.fl_str_mv |
Rego, R. Espírito-Santo, A. |
dc.subject.por.fl_str_mv |
Trade unions Gender quotas Density Representation European social dialogue |
topic |
Trade unions Gender quotas Density Representation European social dialogue |
description |
Trade unions’ legitimacy is rooted in membership, since unions result from the organization of workers who found they were stronger through a collective voice. Accordingly, union representativeness has been assessed primarily through ‘density’ – the ratio of union members to the total workforce. We argue that density is crucial but insufficient. First, the decline in trade union membership jeopardizes internal legitimacy; second, unions have developed external legitimacy when acting beyond their members. Inspired by the multifaceted concept of ‘political representation’, we suggest a fairer approach which adds the composition of unions’ boards – beginning with gender – to density whenever unions act on behalf of all workers. Specifically, we contend that trade unions willing to take part in the European negotiations should adopt gender quotas on their boards. This approach is likely to stimulate equality in the labour market, while contributing to unions’ revitalization, thus fostering the quality of democratic institutions. |
publishDate |
2023 |
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv |
2023-12-18T12:08:43Z 2023-01-01T00:00:00Z 2023 2023-12-18T12:08:06Z |
dc.type.status.fl_str_mv |
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion |
dc.type.driver.fl_str_mv |
info:eu-repo/semantics/article |
format |
article |
status_str |
publishedVersion |
dc.identifier.uri.fl_str_mv |
http://hdl.handle.net/10071/30021 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10071/30021 |
dc.language.iso.fl_str_mv |
eng |
language |
eng |
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv |
0959-6801 10.1177/09596801231187270 |
dc.rights.driver.fl_str_mv |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
eu_rights_str_mv |
openAccess |
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv |
application/pdf |
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv |
SAGE Publications |
publisher.none.fl_str_mv |
SAGE Publications |
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv |
reponame:Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) instname:Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informação instacron:RCAAP |
instname_str |
Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informação |
instacron_str |
RCAAP |
institution |
RCAAP |
reponame_str |
Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) |
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Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) |
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Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) - Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informação |
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1799136443556167680 |