Women's Achievement of Empowerment through Activism in the Workplace

Abstract

In social work, workplace activism has been overlooked as a source of empowerment for women clients. This article reports on the results of a case study of a predominantly female union engaged in grass-roots organizing and legislative activity to promote comparable worth. An unanticipated finding of the study was the high degree to which personal, interpersonal, and political empowerment took place among the women who were deeply involved in the campaign for comparable worth. Social workers need to be more aware of the potential that workplace organizing and political action offer for the empowerment of their women clients.