Labor Unions and Gender Gaps in Political Participation in Latin America

Existing research shows that unions play a key role in stimulating workers' political participation (Hadziabdic & Baccaro, 2020; Kerrissey & Schofer, 2018; Pérez-Ahumada & Astorga-Pinto, 2024). This is because unions foster political awareness and leftist orientations among workers (Kerrissey & Schofer, 2013; Pérez-Ahumada & Astorga-Pinto, 2024), and act as “schools of democracy,” providing workers with civic skills (e.g., leadership abilities) that facilitate participation in political activities outside the workplace (Terriquez, 2011; Verba et al., 1995). Additionally, scholarly research has provided ample evidence suggesting that, compared to men, women are less likely to engage in political actions—particularly in contentious actions such as marching and protesting (Desposato & Norrander, 2009; Espinal & Zhao, 2015; Persson, 2015; Teorell et al., 2007).

In this paper, we analyze the extent to which labor unions help reduce this gender gap in political participation. To fulfill this goal, we use data from the World Values Survey, waves 3 (1995-98), 5 (2005-09), 6 (2010-14), and 7 (2017-20), and analyze three Latin American countries: Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay.

Consistent with previous literature, our regression models indicate that, in all three countries analyzed, women exhibit lower levels of political participation than men. Similarly, in all three countries, union members display higher levels of political participation than those who are not unionized. Finally, our analysis of interaction effects reveals that although union membership does not reduce gender gaps in political interest, it does reduce the gap in participation in political actions (e.g., marching, protesting, etc.) and in civic involvement. These “equalizing effects” are particularly noticeably in Chile, and less clear in Argentina. Differences aside, and building on previous research (Terriquez, 2011; Verba et al., 1995), we speculate that unions’ equalizing effects occur because union participation provides women with civic skills (e.g., leadership capacities) that facilitate political participation outside the workplace.