A Female Trade Unionism? Roles and Practices of Women Shop Stewards in a Mixed-Gender Plant

This paper focuses on union militancy and activism among women shop stewards in a mixed-sex Italian factory. It describes how the feminisation of the workforce and women's involvement in union activism began in and has evolved since the late 1970s. It further highlights how, starting from the 1990s, some women union activists became shop stewards as a result of the proactive policies of the unions and female self-organisation within a women's section at the factory. It then analyses how, over the following decade, the sexual division of labour within the unions, in which the activities associated with union services were primarily allocated to women, shaped their way of performing the shop steward role, associating it with a caring attitude. Lastly, the article shows how the collaboration between women shop stewards who adopt different ``styles of femininity'' has increased the recognition attributed to women's union labour.