Introduction
In “A View from Outside the Whale: The Treatment of Women and Unions in Industrial Relations,” Forrest states that “There is nothing natural or inevitable about the sexual division of labor and that this has to change (Forrest, 1993, p.325). It is to the advantage of a male dominated society to suppress women’s rights especially when it comes to their to organize themselves in order to demand for better wages and better working conditions. But for large part of the history of industrial relations women struggle to find their place and assert what they believe to be a right and not a privilege.
Main Body
Historical records reveal that studies on industrial relations focused on men and that there is a death of information when it comes to women, most especially in the discussion concerning women and trade unions. Believes that “In the past and the present, women’s work has been characterized by low pay and rapid labor turnover, not because women refuse to invest in training or because women are not committed to their jobs, but because this form of work organization is profitable for employers and advantageous to male workers” (Forrest, 1993, p.327). It is time to address the issue of segregation of labor.
Conclusion
In order to change the current situation it is important to realize that job segregation has been successfully utilized as a mechanism for job regulation. There is a nee to understand that this system is based on fear that women would take over the jobs of men. It is also imperative to eliminate the simplistic view that the action of trade union leaders to exclude the participation of women is justified by the goal of trying to meet the needs of its mostly male membership. It is now the time to let women speak on this issue.