This planning grant will assist in the development of an in-depth study of the influence of law on the role of unions in eliminating "hostile work environment" sexual harassment of unionized working women. Although it is often thought that the presence of a union facilitates group challenges to environmental sexual harassment, the opposite pattern prevails in many unionized workplaces: sexual harassment claims are typically brought by individual women, with the union either refusing to intervene or representing the harasser. This study tests the hypothesis that union practices and attitudes interact with labor law to impede the realization of sex equality in the workplace, undermining the union's image, and depriving women of a legally sanctioned avenue of collective action and empowerment. Patterns of union practice relating to legal issues raised by workplace sexual harassment of unionized women will be analyzed through collection and analysis of reported cases. The issues will be further illuminated through a case study where union women have challenged the hostile work environment without the aid of the union. This project promises to generate both new understandings and further studies of considerable value regarding struggles for legal and social equality in the workplace. As such it will further our knowledge of the use of law in correcting structural disadvantages for female workers in organized workplaces.
