A longitudinal examination of the membership patterns of minorities and women in referral unions

A study was conducted to examine the membership patterns of minorities and women in building and nonbuilding trade referral unions between 1969 and 1979. Data were collected from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in its annual survey of union membership. Results indicated that variations in referral union membership can be accounted for by race, sex, and trade category. In addition, no meaningful changes in the racial composition of referral unions took place between 1969 and 1979. However, the sexual composition within building and nonbuilding trade union categories did change significantly over time. More importantly, male/female representation patterns across both referral union categories over the period remained fairly constant relative to one another. The most striking evidence of inequality was the underrepresentation of females in the building trade referral unions.