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.
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