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Constructing Union Motherhood: Gender and Social Reproduction in the Los Angeles “Justice for Janitors” Movement

Qualitative Sociology volume 30, pages 361–381 (2007)Cite this article

Abstract

The literature recognizes the need for unions to change their strategies in order to organize women but whether these strategies reinforce or undermine gender inequality is insufficiently examined. An ethnography of the Los Angeles Justice for Janitors movement demonstrates how women can mitigate unequal gender relations tied to social reproduction through unions. Secondary documents, participant observation and in-depth interviews with Latina/o immigrant janitors and with union staff show how women janitors constructed a union motherhood that undermined the invisibility and devaluation of caregiving generally performed by women. As they moved into union leadership, women worker leaders made caregiving more visible in union practice and recognized its value in the way they framed a broader unionism for the family. Attention to how unions contend with social reproduction extends our understanding of the consequences of union renewal for gender inequality.

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Notes

  1. The ensuing description of the movement draws on (Cranford 2004).

  2. The 1997 merger with SEIU local 1877 resulted in nine new seats for janitors on the Executive board. Women won two of the six elected positions and took one of the three positions that were appointed for lack of a candidate. (Activista Spring 1997 and 1998 data from SEIU local 1877).

  3. Para que haiga union (La la la la la bamba), para que haiga union (la la la la la bamba), se nececita un nuevo contrato; un nuevo contrato pa’ ti pa’ mi, pa’ ti pa’ mi, pa’ ti, pa’ mi. Aaaariba (Laaaa Bamba), aaariba, con la union, con la union.

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Acknowledgments

I would like to thank, Rob Wilton, Maria Schmeeckle, Anna Korteweg, Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo, John Krinsky and the anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on previous versions of these papers. I also thank the janitors and union staff who participated in this study. All interpretations are my own.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, University of Toronto, 3359 Mississauga Road North, Mississauga, ON, L5L 1C6, Canada

    Cynthia J. Cranford

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  1. Cynthia J. Cranford
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Correspondence to Cynthia J. Cranford.

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Cranford, C.J. Constructing Union Motherhood: Gender and Social Reproduction in the Los Angeles “Justice for Janitors” Movement. Qual Sociol 30, 361–381 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11133-007-9080-y

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Keywords

  • Gender
  • Social reproduction
  • Labor movement
  • Unions
  • Latina/o immigrants