Citation

Broadbent K. Ind. Relat. J. 2007; 38(3): 229-251.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2007, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1468-2338.2007.00445.x

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

In this article, I explore the development of women-only unions in Japan and Korea. Women-only unions, which organise women workers across enterprises and employment status boundaries in both countries, have appeared only recently and are new areas of research. While the strategy to form autonomous women-only unions in Japan and Korea is a recent phenomenon, women workers in both countries are continuing a tradition of women's activism that has challenged both management and the male domination of the union movement. By taking a broad scope and by organising the growing non-full-time workforce and women employed in small workplaces, the formation of women-only unions in Japan and Korea is a positive development for both non-unionised women workers and for the broader workers' movement in general.