The long road to gender equality in the European construction, wood and forestry industries: Challenges and opportunities for unions

Women’s participation in construction, wood and forestry has historically been low, and it remains a highly gender segregated industry. There has, nevertheless, been a slight upward trend in women’s participation in the labour market and an increase in women’s participatory structures within national and EU sectoral union organisations. The article assesses barriers and opportunities to the integration of women and aims to identify what unions might do to address these. Drawing on a survey of its members by the European Federation of Building and Woodworkers (EFBWW) on sector-specific solutions and obstacles to increasing women participation and addressing gender inequalities in the industry, the analysis reveals that measures are largely confined to top-down rule-based implementation. This includes relevant provisions in national legislation, aligning with European Union (EU) law and priorities, and improved upon by collective bargaining agreements, such as work-life balance and prevention of harassment at work. The article concludes that greater integration of women’s networks and participatory bodies into union activities and structures opens up opportunities for women to be more effectively included in social dialogue processes and for improving the accountability of union organisations. By establishing links with women working in the industry, this would facilitate a bottom-up approach.