Women, Minorities, and Unions in the Public Sector

Book excerpt: Riccucci presents a well-researched analysis of the public-sector relationship of women and minorities to unions as well as the influence of unions on the wage and employment opportunities of women and minorities. Separate chapters discuss female and minority membership in public-sector unions, the legal obligations of unions to females and minorites, joint labor-management cooperation, including equal-opportunity and affirmative action committees and apprenticeship programs, women in uniformed service jobs, and unions and comparable worth. Choice Although in recent years much attention has been paid to affirmative action and the employment patterns of women and minorities in the public sector, there has been little attention placed on union involvement in these employment patterns; the role of unions in the private sector has been of concern to policymakers and scholars for decades. In Women, Minorities, and Unions in the Public Sector, Riccucci examines this discrepancy on the premise that although unions in the public sector are important decision makers in the employment of women and minorities, they are overlooked largely because their formal powers tend to be circumscribed due to their operation in the government as opposed to the private sector sphere. The research presented in this book suggests that unions in the public sector often possess de facto power to influence the employment progress of women and minorities in government work forces. Through legal, political, and historical frameworks, Riccucci examines the patterns of union involvement and addresses issues that are pertinent to both women and minorities. She provides an up-to-date list of case law as well as current data on the percentage of women and minorities in public sector unions.