Women in the Trade Union Movement in Scotland

This report considers issues of gender balance and proportionality within the trade unions’ structures, as raised during the STUC Women’s Conference (2014). Resolution no. 15, moved by the Communication Workers’ Union, requested the STUC Women’s Committee to investigate and respond to the following three points:
- collate data detailing the percentage of women currently holding senior positions and equality roles throughout the movement in Scotland;
- establish which activities and campaigns are in place to address and improve existing gender equality within trade union organisations; and
- review and consider current structures and processes.
This report incorporates the existing body of knowledge that the STUC holds and combines it with the findings from the new research which was carried out in 2015 as a part of wider work within the framework of the STUC Women and Work Partnership Project funded by the Scottish Government. The Women and Work Partnership Project aimed to explore a variety of issues and problems that working women in Scotland face. This included learning more about the profile of the female membership, and the women-focused activities and actions developed by trade unions across different economic sectors and workplaces. The STUC has gathered some interesting data that helps shed some light on the situation of female activists and female officials working in the structures of trade unions in Scotland. This report shares some of these observations and insights.