Anne Forrest Gender Model

In “A View from Outside the Whale: The Treatment of Women and Unions in Industrial Relations” by Anne Forrest, the main point of the article was about the history of women’s involvement in unions and reasons for them not being involved. Forrest explains that in the study of Industrial relations, the term ‘gender model’ as named by Feldberg And Glenn is used to explain why it is less likely for women to be union members than men (Forrest, A., 1983, P.328). She adds that it is a standard treatment for women in industrial relations (Forrest, A., 1983, P.330). It means that women are at a disadvantage since they aren’t men. She explains it is because many women work in temporary jobs since it allows them more time for family duties (Forrest, A., 1983,

Forrest stated that there were many strikes led by women (Forrest, A., 1983, P.326). Also, women were instrumental in developing the union movement in Canada (Forrest, A., 1983, P.326). Similarly, Forest adds, ”In Canada, women have been organizing unions basically ever since there have been unions.” (Forrest, A., 1983, P.329). Women also faced discrimination in the world of industrial relations but researchers didn’t discuss it (Forrest, A., 1983, P.329). For instance, Forest points out that women are not called workers but men are. Also, researchers in Industrial Relations write about women having family responsibilities and men aren’t mentioned as the bread winners (Forrest, A., 1983, P.329). Also, some unions like craft unions refused women as members so it would deny them “access to training and jobs.” (Forrest, A., 1983, P.332). Women were at a disadvantage when it came to union participation. There are many reasons for a tendency for less women joining the union than men. Of the women that did participate, it was to support issues men experienced. Writers in Industrial relations also wrote about men and women in a discriminatory