L I MITATIONS TO INCLUS IVE UNIONS FROM THE P E RS PE CTIVES OF WHITE AND ABORIGINAL WOMEN FO REST WOR K ER S IN T H E NO RT HERN PR AIRIES

Abstract

Severalauthors haveargued thatbroadening the traditional understandingsofunion solidarityisnecessary for unionrenewal.Concerns specific to workersfrommarginalizedgroupshavebeen showntochallengetraditionalunderstandingsof unioncollectivity.This paperdraws oninterviews withwhite andAboriginal women forestprocessingworkers to argue thatinterrogating marginalizedworkers’ negativerepresentations of theirunions canprovideinsights thatwillhelpto broaden traditionalunderstandings of union solidarity. I use thematic analysisfollowed by critical discourseanalysistoexaminewomen workers’negativetalkabout unions.I present examples ofhow women’s negative representations oftheir unionscanbe understood asdifferentforms of collectivism whenexaminedin thecontext of their lived experiences of workandunionism. Some white andAboriginalwomen’s representations oftheir unionswove individualistic anti-union statements together with their previous experiences ofwork highlighting the inequality betweenunionized and non-unionized workersin thecommunity.The talk ofother Aboriginal womencritiqued theunion for not representingthem whiledemonstrating a sense ofcollectivitywithother Aboriginal workers.Byexploring linkages between women’s negativerepresentations ofunionsand their workexperiences,unions can better understand the negative union sentimentof marginalizedworkersanduse this t