Conclusion

Abstract

The final chapter draws together the key conclusions advanced within this book in relation to its three central themes: the operation of the gendered union structure, women’s union activism, and the relationship between class and gender in the labour movement. Firstly, it argues that a gendered union structure was institutionalised from the union’s establishment and maintained through a belief system that women’s issues were not trade union issues. Secondly, it argues that separate self-organisation was essential to women’s activity within the gendered union structure as it provided an essential space and voice for women to discuss their gender-specific concerns, develop consciousness and skills and formulate policy. It further emphasises the importance of external feminist allies to women’s union activity. Thirdly, it argues that class differences between middle-class women in film and television production and working-class women in the laboratories informed the direction of women’s activity at its height during the 1970s and 1980s. This chapter then surveys the central arguments advanced in each chapter to illustrate these core conclusions. It concludes with a consideration of the practical implications of this research for campaigns against gender discrimination within the British labour movement and the film and television industries.