"A fine and self-reliant group of women": women's leadership in the Female Confectioners Union.

Brigden, Cathy

In the management literature, much has been written about leadership. (1) In the shift away from the individualist oriented nature of the mainstream writings on leadership, conceptual developments have led to new ways of thinking about leadership such as collaborative and relational leadership, leadership within organisations and doing leadership differently. (2) There is now an extensive literature on gender and leadership, and more specifically women's leadership. Studies abound: on the way women lead; the challenges posed by particular organisational, industry and occupational contexts; the nature of barriers and resistance experienced; strategies to overcome these; the "feminine advantage" arising from women's presumed inherently better leadership skills, and the impact of "female" and "feminine" traits and characteristics. (3) Increasing numbers of women in visible leadership roles, in the political domain, public and corporate sectors have led to studies and biographies in an attempt to unpack the nature of women's leadership and to illuminate the gendered nature of organisations. (4) Research has also alerted us to the importance of analysing interactions between gender, class and race, opening up new avenues for extending our understanding of women's leadership. (5)

With management and applied psychology fields still dominating leadership studies, little attention has been given to trade unions as an organisational setting in which to explore leadership, continuing the "absence of a separate body of theory of trade union leadership." (6) Compared with managerial leadership, "[o]ur knowledge of trade union leadership is much more limited and few leadership scholars have conducted studies in trade unions." (7) This is significant because "[l]eadership in organisations which operate democratically is qualitatively different to leadership in many other organisations." (8) Nevertheless, in the trade union literature more generally, as in the broader leadership literature, there is a considerable focus on union women's leadership. Indeed in 2006, Briskin remarked that the "literature on women and unions, and women in union leadership has expanded exponentially over the last decade." (9) Reviewing dominant threads in that body of work and the leadership literature, she has highlighted the emphasis on how women lead, which is often counter-posed with men's leadership styles. Commonly underpinning this analysis is the argument that women lead differently from men, creating a "female" style of leadership. Briskin observes that: "Extensive and also controversial popular and scholarly literature suggests, despite significant differences in union cultures and political contexts, that union women and men lead differently. Recurring themes emphasise women's democratic, collaborative, consultative, and less aggressive styles," characteristics consistent with what is described as "transformational leadership." (10) While highlighting the management literature's linking of transactional and transformational types of leadership with gender, (11) Briskin is sensitive to Wajcman's concerns about the dangers posed by perceptions of women's innate differences and its capacity to reinforce conservative gender stereotyping as well as the "complexity of intersectionality," and the multiple identities (including class, race, age, dis/ableness) shaping women's leadership practice. (12)

The barriers confronting women aspiring to be union leaders or seeking to progress through the union hierarchy are well-documented, being found in family and domestic domains as well as workplaces and the union. (13) Alongside trade unions' depiction as "greedy" institutions that subsume much time and energy, (14) is the awareness that they have also offered an avenue for working-class women to develop and hone leadership skills in ways they would not have been able to do in their day-to-day jobs: providing a "route to an interesting, purposeful and satisfying life." (15)

The dominant theme of individualism is found across the spectrum of the literature, with stories about individual managers, employers or male and female union leaders as examples of the heroic model of leadership: "Heroic models of leaders and leadership have traditionally dominated, either explicitly or implicitly, both union discourse and many of the debates about leadership in the women-and-unions literature." (16) Even the shift to "postheroic" leadership continues the individual at the centre, although it seeks to move away "from heroes and personality types to social processes and organisational practice." (17) In contrast, administrative conservatorship provides a more "conservative" model. As Theakston argues, someone "does not cease to be a leader ... because the goal is stability or continuity rather than innovation." (18) In his study of civil service leaders, Theakston draws on Terry's model of administrative conservatorship, in which leaders act as organisational "guardians" for whom preservation of "institutional integrity" is the objective. (19) Relating this to trade union leaders' obligations to, as Terry posits, protect the "institution's distinctive values, competence and role," Knowles sees resonance for unions with "historical roots in the principles and values of a founding leadership that existed a century or so ago." (20)

This article focuses on the leadership experiences of women trade unionists in a women's-only union. The Female Confectioners Union, formed by women confectionery workers in Victoria in 1916, was led by rank-and-file women for much of its organisational life until it wound up following an amalgamation in 1945. Although men were influential in the union's formative years, in particular, and relationships with male trade unionists shaped the union's history, it is the leadership contribution of women that is the most striking aspect of this organisation's experience. Moreover, it is the contribution of activists who took on honorary officer and committee roles that enabled the union to function with only one or two fulltime officials. These honorary roles commonly receive less attention in analyses of women's union leadership with more accounts of fulltime officials, female staff and even workplace delegates. (21) Yet, historically, small trade unions in particular depended on the voluntary work and willingness of rank-and-file members. By addressing our attention to these women activists, a broader and fuller picture can be developed of the dynamics and layers of women's labour leadership. Women leaders across the union's history are included in this account, building on and extending previous biographical and genealogical work recovering the stories of the union's key leaders. (22) This study seeks to redress these women's absence from the historical record, providing insights into their individual and collective leadership roles, while also questioning the applicability of contemporary views about transformational leadership to these women (union) leaders' particular historical experiences. To foreground the trade union context, the analysis is specifically located in the literature on women trade union leaders considering, in particular, their "making" as leaders. (23)

Biographical Approaches to the Study of Leadership

Biographical studies of individual leaders have a long heritage (though not without critique) with groups of leaders examined through the lenses of prosopography, comparative and group biography. (24) While prosopography studies people "as members of groups," comparative and group biography centre both the group and the individuals. (25) Group biography, in particular, has been used to study "social, political, intellectual and cultural networks," connecting "the ideas and activities of a particular set of people with their close personal relationships." (26) In undertaking group biography, three issues must be considered: representativeness, structure versus agency, and data availability. Are the people being studied "representative" or "unrepresentative": would the same events have happened in the absence of the subject or subjects or were they the critical factor? (27) This leads in turn to consideration of structure versus agency and the extent to which individuals and groups can shape institutions or are shaped and constrained by them. As with all forms of biographical research, source availability is critical. Absence of, or fragmentary written and oral sources frequently hamper constructing the lives of working-class people. Trade union leaders are less likely to write (and/or make publicly available) diaries, private papers or memoirs and this is even more so for the lives of women. (28) This then affects the degree to which motivations, influences or attitudes can be analysed. Theakston's comment that "government files may tell only part of the story of [civil service] decision-making" because of "the telephone and private and informal talks," resonates when union minute books are a primary source for investigating leadership practice. (29)

Group biography informs this study in order to elevate the role of the honorary officials. It provides an opportunity to incorporate personal, biographical details, fleshing out the particular women and revealing friendship and blood ties that bound some together. Unlike prosopography, it enables individual roles to be highlighted and integrated into the broader analysis. In this way, it also seeks to redress the relative lack of a "place" for women in labour biography. (30) A comprehensive group biography is, however, not possible. With few documents revealing the women's written or spoken views about their leadership approaches or challenges, it is not possible to construct life stories, or personal histories as found in contemporary research. Nor is it legitimate to characterise their leadership styles based solely on what can be gleaned from the union records, minutes and other papers, given the absence of evidence about leadership practice. Nonetheless, we can construct a sense of these women's leadership through analysis of their roles and activities, all the time keeping in mind the changing context in which they operated. Use of genealogical sources (birth, death and marriage records and electoral roll data) will also add personal elements, such as age, marital status and some household circumstances. It will, of necessity, remain a partial picture with areas of speculation and limits to generalisations. The next section begins tracing the women who became workplace and honorary leaders in the Female Confectioners Union, starting with the union's first women leaders.

The Founding Women, 1916-22

The union's early years were characterised by considerable member engagement and internal conflict. The September 1916 meeting of female confectioners that formed the union was prompted by growing concerns over the state of women's wages in the trade, despite the existence of the Confectioners Union (hereafter the men's union) since the late 1880s. This fuelled the desire to form a women's union. The commitment to separate organising, organising the union along gender lines, would characterise the union for its existence. (31) Miss Isabella (Isabel) Parker was elected inaugural president and organiser. Consistent with the experience of some other women's unions, an experienced male unionist was elected secretary: Isaac Johnston, previously an official with the Federated Gas Employees Union. (32) Integrating the union into the women's workplaces and the broader industrial relations system began immediately. Affiliation with the Melbourne Trades Hall Council (THC) was initiated and Parker and Johnston set about registering the union under the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Act 1904. The first group of shop stewards --nine women at four firms, MacRobertson's, Hoadley's, Allans, and Long and Smith's--were appointed at the union's first meeting. (33) For these mostly unmarried women, (34) the union's formation provided immediate entry to workplace leadership positions, thus solving the first of Ledwith et al.'s three "problems" in the making of union leaders (entry into trade union activism and leadership, consolidation of a power base, directing of union affairs and policy). (35) Four of the (single) women also progressed to the union's next leadership level, becoming the first committee members. What remains unknown is their motivations: whether they sought out the role or were "reluctant" leaders. (36)

While gaining entry to leadership may have been relatively easy, consolidation through gaining traction and building a power base proved more difficult. (37) As organiser, Isabel Parker faced impediments at various workplaces, being frustrated by both management and workers. At Hoadley's, management hindered organising while at MacRobertson's, male workers were "telling the girls not to join which makes it difficult for me [Parker]": an experience fitting Cockburn's analysis of other contexts. (38) Parker later complained that "the girls do not come outside during dinner hour." (39) Union activism came at a price for some. Mrs Donohue, one of the Wages Board representatives and a delegate at MacRobertson's and Miss Keystone, a Hoadley's shop steward, were both dismissed: the foreman had been "most watchful [sic] over [Keystone] since the union had started." (40) MacRobertson's shop president, Flora Wearne was later described as having worked "very strenuously to organise her comrades, in the face of the greatest possible difficulty and was subjected to much abuse by many of those whom she sought to help." (41)

For Isabel Parker, being the organiser took a personal toll. In the July 1917 elections, she was challenged as president (by Mrs Ada Collins and Mrs Donohue) and was subsequently defeated by Collins while on leave due to a nervous breakdown. (42) She returned in December to a union embroiled in conflict arising from Mrs Donohue's dismissal and a challenge to Johnston's leadership. (43) Whether Parker's absence eroded her capacity to consolidate her power base, she was unable to regain ground. She ran against Johnston in the December ballot for secretary and gained not one vote to his 53. (44) When Johnston's behaviour and financial impropriety in early 1918 led to THC intervention and a member-endorsed union reorganisation (again as a women's union), Parker again was rebuffed by the members. Part of the THC's offer of assistance was the services of E. H. A. (Harry) Smith, an experienced union organiser. In the elections for secretary, Harry Smith secured more than half the vote, easily defeating Parker. (45)

Isabel Parker was a casualty of the reorganisation. After the June 1918 election where she was defeated for both secretary and treasurer, she no longer appears in official records. (46) For Parker, her failure in sustaining her power base meant that even with a union committed to separate organising and providing avenues for women's leadership, union politics overrode personal contribution. (47) This was exemplified in an article, penned by Smith, chronicling "The Solidarity of Women: What Women have accomplished in the Confectionery Trade" in the first issue of the union journal, The Woman's Clarion, in 1921. Smith here praised the "courageous" work done in the cause of the union, but overlooked Parker's contribution. (48) Parker's excision from the union's history has continued in contemporary accounts. (49)

After the reorganisation, Miss Elizabeth Burns, a 40-year-old confectioner, (50) was elected president and 25-year-old Margaret Wearne replaced Mrs Johnson (mysteriously reported as having "disappeared") as vice president. Like Parker, Burns was also the (now part-time) organiser. In 1919 she became the third THC delegate as the union's membership grew. Three young women emerged in 1918-19 as part of the new leadership group. Daisy Diwell and two sisters, Elsie and Maud Hood reflected the workforce profile, as young women dominated the confectionery trade. The 1921 census showed nearly 80 per cent of female confectionery makers were less than 25 years of age, with over two-thirds of those aged 10-19 years of age. (51) Daisy, a confectioner at MacRobertson's, became treasurer in June 1918 at the age of 26. Elsie (aged 20) was elected trustee in October 1918 and vice president in 1920, while Maud (aged 26) joined the committee in 1919. The Hoods became two of three delegates on the Wages Board. The value of group biography is underlined here with genealogical records showing not only the blood ties of the Hood sisters but also friendship ties between the three women with Daisy living with Elsie, Maud and their family in 1919.

We get a glimpse of Daisy's leadership approach: "the members all agreed that most of the [union's workplace] success had been due to the great energy and tact she has displayed on all occasions, she had given her services ungrudgingly." (52) Other workplace leaders were also publicly acknowledged. Miss Nellie Black (aged 23) and Miss Mary Moss had "put up a splendid case" during a dispute at MacRobertson's in 1920 and were "congratulated ... on the courage they had displayed." (53) In The Woman's Clarion, Secretary Smith paid tribute to the many women who "have rendered yeoman service." (54)

Conflict marred Burns' departure from the union. Resigning as president in early 1920, apparently to redress the union's financial difficulties (caused by unemployment arising from the 1919 Seamen's dispute) as with the Donohue matter, there was disagreement over what she was owed. This led to acrimony between her, Secretary Smith and Margaret Wearne (by now the assistant secretary) with Burns subsequently threatening legal action. (55)

Leadership stability was further interrupted by two additional causes of turnover in this period: ill health and marriage. Both Elsie and Maud Hood got married in 1921 and retired from union activities. (56) In January 1921, poor health forced Daisy Diwell's resignation. It was suggested her union work was in part to blame. As Daisy often went without lunch while she was interviewing girls around the factory, "it is little wonder that her health suffered in consequence." (57) Illness claimed the life of 25-year-old trustee Grace Hanson in June 1921, the same month as Nellie Black resigned from the committee for health reasons. (58) Her replacement, Miss V. King, soon resigned as she was getting married. (59) These examples indicate, on the one hand, the impact of the "greediness" of the union and the self-sacrificial demands made and, on the other, the prevailing societal norms about gender roles. (60) In total, between 1916 and 1922, 34 different women had been committee members, with at least 30 of these unmarried women. (61)

Leadership challenges for the Female Confectioners included ongoing conflict with the men's union. As indicated earlier, it was neglect by the men's union that contributed to the women organising separately. The consequent inter-union conflict was affected by external pressure to amalgamate (in line with other amalgamations along industry lines) and marked by contestation over appropriate representation on the Wages Board. Despite women numerically dominating the trade, the men's union continually challenged the Female Confectioners' claim for greater representation. The men's union was both provocative--including former secretary, Isaac Johnston, as a Wages Board delegate--and patronising, as demonstrated by their view that "it would be fair [for the men's union to have more representation], as the girls could not or was not [sic] equal to the task on a Wages Board and we would be able to do justice to all sides." (62) Moreover, lack of solidarity was clear when the men's union delegates voted with the employer representatives in 1919 against an increase in women's wage rates. (63) In addition to their stereotypical attitudes of female competence, it is apparent that the men's union felt and indeed acted as if the women were trying to subvert the established gender pattern, and especially the status of the Wages Board as a "man's place." (64)

Margaret Wearne

These tumultuous years saw the beginning of what would become Margaret Wearne's 36-year contribution as a trade union leader. Born in 1893, she worked as a confectioner at MacRobertson's, becoming a member on 3 October 1916. (65) Margaret Wearne's formal leadership roles spanned the industrial, political and civic spheres. She too experienced impediments in consolidation with initial electoral loss. Twice defeated for the vice presidency, she not only gained that role in 1918 but emerged from the reorganisation in a leadership role. Wearne became general secretary, the most senior office-bearing position after the union gained federal registration. She became a full-time official in 1919 when she was appointed assistant secretary, and was secretary from 1927. Following the 1945 merger, Margaret was the Victorian branch assistant secretary until her retirement in 1952.

Working in the Trades Hall building, Margaret also had extensive labour movement connections. She was a Trades Hall delegate (1918-52), a THC Labour Day Committee member for a decade, on the union's Australian Labor Party (ALP) delegation from the mid-1920s and a member of the ALPs women's committee, the Womens Central Organising Committee (WCOC). In 1938, she was the Food Trades Federation president, the food trades unions' industry peak body. Following Alice Henry's 1925 visit, Margaret Wearne and other women union leaders unsuccessfully sought to organise a Womens Trade Union League (WTUC). (66) Forums for Wearne's broader leadership roles included the Council of the College of Domestic Science from 1924 and the 1932 Pan-Pacific Womens Conference Committee. Indicative of her public profile was her appointment as a Justice of the Peace in 1927, the first year women were admitted in Victoria. (67)

This brief biography reflects how Wearne "conformed to the 'masculine' job model (of a senior trade union official) with a long, unbroken record of union activism and paid, full-time employment." (68) As an unmarried woman with no children, she partly matched the "atypical" model of women union leaders. But her experiences still reflected her status as a woman. Rather than serving on a strategic committee in the THC like the executive or industrial disputes committee, her participation was limited to the one organising the Labour Day celebrations. (69) Women's issues dominated her external roles: domestic science education and organising a women's conference. She operated in clearly delineated "female" spaces, sometimes by choice with the WTUC but other times because of pre-existing organisational structures, such as the WCOC. In contrast was her role as a justice of the peace, which certainly challenged gender roles, but also reflected her public status as a senior female union leader.

We do have a few insights into Wearne's leadership style, suggesting that, in line with the themes identified by Briskin, she had a "collaborative, consultative, and less aggressive style." (70) Secretary Smith conveyed a sense of her personal qualities: All her duties have been carried out in a most loyal, painstaking and able manner, and most of the success of the organisation is due to the unassuming nature and the rare qualities she possesses. She is always sympathetic to everyone in difficulties, and is ever ready to calmly weigh over the problems confronting one and to play a very large part in their solution. (71)

These qualities were reinforced by Commonwealth Conciliation Commissioner Stewart when he was deliberating on union access to members: "if there was a courteous lady, as Miss Wearne is" talking to girls in the lunch room would be acceptable; it would only be a problem if it was an "objectionable" or "unsatisfactory" organiser. (72) Upon her retirement, her contribution to the Food Trades Federation was celebrated: "she had rendered great service ... [holding] the position as president with great dignity to herself." (73) These observations (all made by men) emphasise her "feminine" and "relational" qualities and are clearly seen as positive, though not suggesting a transformational style. (74)

The Female Confectioners' initial years demonstrated the development of a strong activist base but one vulnerable to turnover caused by intra-organisational factors and individual circumstances. Separate organising provided more avenues for participation than would have been the case in mixed unions but for many individual women they had only partial success in solving Ledwith et al.'s three problems. What also emerged was the partial matching of the "atypical" profile, with unmarried women dominating the honorary leadership positions, although age was more difficult to ascertain. Given the number of young women in the trade, however, it was more likely these were younger women.

Consolidation and Control: The "1920s" Group

In sharp contrast to the initial pattern of short tenure and high turnover, a small group of activists consolidated in the early to mid-1920s. This core group of five--Flora Wearne, Miranda Hill, Ruby Warway, Ivy Heath nee Chapman and Maud Howard --would lead the union for the rest of its organisational life. Another two women, Jean Elliott (1918-32) and May Webber (1920-37) also played important roles in this period. Despite different personal circumstances, collectively these women solved the two problems of entry and consolidation and embarked on directing. In addition, Jean Daley played an ongoing political role from the mid-1920s (as a THC and ALP delegate) although she would not engage in the day-to-day leadership of the union. (75) Flora Wearne, first elected a trustee in January 1920, served as treasurer from 1921 until the amalgamation. In 1922, Miranda Hill and Ruby Warway took on the first of their many offices. Miranda joined the committee in May 1922, became the 1924 vice president and then president for 1925. After Harry Smith's death in 1927, she took over as assistant secretary. Miranda only relinquished the job in 1942 when, prompted by financial difficulties, the union released her to work for the Department of Labour and National Service. Nonetheless, she continued to hold office as a trustee and as vice president in 1944. Like Margaret Wearne, Miranda conformed to the "masculine" union official model. In August 1922, Ruby filled a vacancy and remained an honorary official through to 1945, as did Ivy Chapman from February 1923. Maud Howard became a state conference delegate in mid-1926 and was then elected president. Like Ruby, she too would become a leadership stalwart. Between them, Ruby Warway and Maud Howard would serve as president for 13 years of the 18 years from 1926 to 1944. Flora, Miranda, Ruby, Ivy and Maud would give between 20 and 25 years of committed service, while Jean Elliott's 14 years and May Webber's 17 years provided additional ballast.

This "1920s group" was primarily characterised by their relative youth, marital status and personal ties. Most were born in the 1890s. Ruby and Miranda were 23 years of age when they became committee members. Flora, Ivy and Margaret were also close in age (being born between 1891 and 1893). Maud Howard was the only older woman, aged 40 when she joined the committee. She was also the only one born overseas, having migrated from England in the early 1920s. Ivy Chapman/ Heath and May Webber were the only two to marry, both after they had become committee members and neither had children. Apart from Ivy, who worked in retail confectionery, the others were all employed in manufacturing as confectioners, wrappers or packers. Like Margaret Wearne, they were in many ways "atypical," although as a group younger. (76) Their age profile was in sharp contrast to that seen by Ledwith et al. in their study. (77)

Just as friendship and blood ties existed between Daisy Diwell and the Hoods, these also characterised the 1920s group, demonstrating that this was a group connected beyond their union network. Flora Wearne was the elder sister of Margaret Wearne. They worked at MacRobertson's and lived together (mainly with female family members) until 1941, only living apart when both were in their fifties. Close ties bound Miranda Hill and Ruby Warway, who lived together for over 50 years. Ruby, described as a "mate" of Miranda Hill, had moved in with the Hill family at least from the early 1920s. (78) Sharing houses for many years with Hill family members (in particular Miranda's mother) and later on with a female friend, Miranda and Ruby would be housemates until Miranda's death in 1973. Just as the Wearne sisters, Miranda and Ruby, could be characterised as "atypical" women, so too could their domestic situations. Not only were they unmarried but for much of their union activism they also lived in female-dominated households. (79)

The women continued their workplace leadership roles. This not only demonstrated the degree of consolidation they had built but also their commitment to providing local leadership, reflecting the importance many women place on local activism and representation. (80) For example, at MacRobertson's, Flora Wearne was shop steward for many years, while Miranda Hill and then Ruby Warway were stewards at Allen's. Broader activism in the labour movement occurred through the women's participation in the THC and the WCOC. Miranda and Jean Daley joined Margaret as THC delegates from 1927. For ten years, the union's WCOC delegation comprised the core group of Miranda, Maud, Ruby, the Wearne sisters and Jean Daley, (81) and Margaret, Miranda and Jean assumed leadership roles. At the 1938 annual WCOC conference, "Miss Hill held the conference by her forcible exposition of the labour women's angle on social service," and in 1940 she was elected president. (82)

Not all of the women easily stepped into senior roles. Jean Elliott, after two terms as vice president, refrained from nominating as president "on account of the responsibilities it entails." Clearly she was convinced otherwise as she was president in both 1923 and 1924. (83) Ivy Chapman served as vice president for three consecutive years (1926-28) but did not take on the presidency. Chapman's changed domestic responsibilities as a result of her marriage likely affected her leadership choices.

When Harry Smith unexpectedly died, the consolidation and stability provided by the 1920s group stood the union in good stead. His decade of leadership had created, as Jean Daley's eulogy declared, a "fine and self-reliant group of women who can take up the battle where he laid it down, intelligently and militantly." (84) By this stage, Margaret Wearne had been assistant secretary for over seven years while Miranda Hill had five years experience as an office bearer. Smith's death did not reduce the inter-union conflict, which continued over the issue of amalgamation and Wages Board representation. (85) Amalgamation discussions foundered again due to the incompatibility of the men's demands and the Female Confectioners leaders' and members' commitment to separate organising and its retention in any amalgamated scheme: "The members had been consulted many times and always insisted in retaining control over their own sectional interests." (86) However, the men's union could not countenance the demand that a women's section have negotiation powers. (87) In these circumstances, protection of the union and, most importantly, its key organising principle of separate organising were pre-eminent for the women. This is consistent with a leadership approach informed by administrative conservatorship whereby "at times a more 'protective' style of leadership is required to defend and strengthen existing institutions and values." (88) By the end of the 1920s, the onset of the depression compounded the need to be organisationally protective, as unemployment grew and the financial base of the union came under threat.

The leadership grip of the 1920s group on directing the union meant there was no real "generational succession." In the 1930s, the porous boundaries of the committee led to a small number of activists joining the committee and assuming senior offices. However, they would augment rather than replace the 1920s group, who integrated the newcomers but not at the expense of their ongoing leadership. Although the 1930s Depression would present the union with significant challenges, no challenge was made to the now embedded leadership.

New Blood

Through the 1930s, the core group was refreshed with three of the new women taking on senior roles, demonstrating their integration into the leadership group. Miss Ida Nagel and Miss Myrtle Evans were elected to the committee in the December 1931 elections. Aged 37, Ida Nagel served only one term, marrying soon after. (89) After three years on the committee, Myrtle Evans (also likely to be in her mid-thirties) was a trustee in 1933 and the 1935 vice president. (90) On track to be president the following year, instead she took up a job in the textile industry and was farewelled with a watch. (91) In contrast, Jean Elliott and May Webber finished their lengthy terms with no acknowledgement made, merely disappearing from the union record.

The next two women, M. Hishon and Aileen Callick, would play more significant roles. M. Hishon joined the committee in October 1933 and two months later was elected vice president. She was president in 1935 and again in 1938, joined the WCOC delegation and remained on the committee until the amalgamation. Her first name was never recorded; her marital status was unclear being listed as both Miss and Mrs in the minutes and there was no mention of where she worked. As a consequence, there are no biographical details. Her case highlights how the depth of a group biography can be limited by varying availability of sources.

Aileen Callick joined the committee in January 1937, and was described as a shop steward at Bush's Confectionery in 1943. While the other women matched the "atypical" characterisation, Aileen was notable for her divergence from that picture, being a young married woman. With most of the core group now in their late 30s to late 50s, the 27-year-old Aileen Callick brought youth to the leadership group. She was much closer in age to the members: almost three-quarters of female confectionery workers and chocolate dippers were still under the age of 25, according to the 1931 Census. (92) Although married when she became an office bearer, like Ivy Chapman for many years and May Webber, Aileen always used her maiden name (only once signing the minutes as Mrs Connelly). Like Evans and Hishon, once on the committee, she experienced few barriers to securing a senior role. She was quickly elevated to the vice-presidency for 1938 and then the presidency. Two years later she was again vice-president and then president in 1942. Aileen Callick resigned in July 1943 as she was "leaving the industry": she subsequently had a baby. In farewelling her, Margaret Wearne said, "Miss Callick has always been an energetic worker for the Union and staunch Unionists [sic]" and Miranda Hill praised her "devotion to the Union." (93) The pull of domestic responsibilities, accounting for both Nagel and Callick's departures, reinforced those faced by women union leaders at different life stages (94) and demonstrates the value of using genealogy in constructing a group biography

Some insights into how the leaders and members interacted can be gleaned from the union records. From 1933, there was a change with general meetings being held the same evening as committee meetings. Union business was then transacted in the monthly general meeting with the committee meetings confined to approving the accounts and minutes. From a leadership perspective, this kept them close to the rank-and-file, and could flag a more consultative approach. Certainly they were responsive to members' "discontent" and "bitter complaining" over wages in 1943, voiced in a "lengthy and animated" discussion at a general meeting, which led to a successful case for a wage increase. (95)

Financial problems again beset the union during the 1930s depression. (96) Combined with another unsatisfactory amalgamation scheme from the men's union --Margaret Wearne claiming that "we could find this Union crying in the wilderness ... This basis of representation must in the mind of any fair minded person be as objectionable to them as it is to the Committee"--this reinforced the primacy of administrative conservatorship for the leadership. (97) The war years were no better, with a 1942 special executive meeting advised that they were unable to continue "at the rate of our expenses." (98) In these circumstances, as Bennett observes, "the union spent most of its time simply struggling to survive" with little room or inclination for transformational leadership. (99)

The apparently seamless integration of Hishon and Callick as senior office bearers occurred alongside the 1920s group's prevailing dominance. The onset of World War II, however, brought sugar shortages and rationing, together with changes in the composition of the workforce. Labour shortages of both men and single women led to married women entering the industry. Work previously done by men was taken over by women, and demand shifted away from confectionery production to packing military rations. With both unions' organisational sustainability under threat, amalgamation discussions resumed. New committee members would again be integrated before a challenge to the 1920s group's dominance occurred on the eve of the amalgamation.

A Challenge from Below

As the war took hold, absorption of new committee members again took place. Following the brief six-month term of Miss Gorman, shop steward at Australian Licorice, Mrs Helen Bull took her place in July 1943. Two months later, Mrs Ethel Skipper replaced Aileen Callick. (100) Both Helen Bull and Ethel Skipper fitted the "atypical" model, being married women in their 40s when they became committee members. Helen had no children while Ethel's son was in his late teens and her daughter was a young adult. Unlike the young Aileen Callick, these two women looked very much like the still "atypical" 1920s group they joined. While not close to the industry's age profile, they were representative of the growing number of married women. With both women joining the committee so close to the end of the union's separate existence, whether they too would have assumed senior roles like Hishon and Callick remains speculative. However, both were on the post-amalgamation executive.

In contrast was the conflict surrounding Miss Gladys Thomas and Mrs Grace Keamy. (101) They contributed to the first electoral challenge and defeats faced by the incumbent leadership. At the December 1944 general meeting, for the first time since 1920, there were contested elections: for president, THC delegates, and federal council delegates. The backdrop for this unprecedented challenge was the amalgamation negotiations, now reaching finalisation. (102) A report on an amalgamation scheme had been the opening item, with a special meeting to discuss amalgamation arranged for January 1945. Gladys Thomas then voiced the MacRobertson's members' desire for a deputy steward to Flora Wearne which, after discussion, was endorsed. With only the union minutes as a record, it is unclear whether this reflected workplace demands and support for Flora, a questioning of her capacity to do the job she had held for a quarter of a century, or reflected broader concerns about the direction of the union.

In the ballot for president, Gladys Thomas defeated Miranda Hill, the outgoing vice president (Mrs Keamy declining nomination). Gladys was also elected as a federal councillor, with Miranda, Maud Howard and Helen Bull unsuccessful in their bids. Grace Keamy (aged 40) joined Margaret Wearne and Jean Daley as a THC delegate, defeating Helen Bull. (103) Not only was the leadership successfully challenged, but they were also rebuffed at the January special meeting. Despite being advised that the women's section was "safeguarded" for the first time, the membership comprehensively voted down the amalgamation scheme by 63 votes to 11. (104) No reasons for this rejection were minuted. Undeterred, the executive decided to recommit the resolution to the next general meeting, only to be thwarted by Gladys Thomas. Open division between the secretary and president followed but once again, the members supported Gladys. (105) For a union that had practised administrative conservatorship with protection of separate organising at its heart, the amalgamation required a convincing leadership case. Not only had the leadership failed in carrying the members, but also they persisted in the face of opposition. Even though this member-led revolt was short-lived, and the amalgamation only delayed to April, arguably, the women did not lead "differently." Despite earlier suggestions of a more consultative style, on this occasion members of the dominant leadership group were determined to achieve their desired end. They also saw off their opposition. Grace Keamy resigned as the MacRobertson's deputy shop steward. Gladys Thomas was not on the post-amalgamation committee in July 1945 but from the 1920s group, only Ivy was missing. Margaret Wearne was assistant secretary, Miranda junior vice-president, Flora a trustee and Ruby, Maud, Helen and Ethel were committee members.

Conclusion

This examination of labour women's leadership concentrated on illuminating leadership patterns in the Female Confectioners Union. In particular, and informed by group biography, the critical role of women in honorary leadership roles was traced over the union's history. Union, biographical and genealogical records created a picture of these women. These enabled consideration of how Ledwith et al.'s three problems in the "making of women union leaders" were solved, with entry especially in the union's founding period, facilitated because it was a women's union. Large numbers of women took advantage of opportunities at the workplace and on the committee. The second stage of consolidation proved more problematic with significant turnover before a core group emerged in the mid 1920s. Along with Margaret Wearne who joined the leadership group in 1918, these women not only consolidated their power base but then successfully moved into directing union policy

Reinforcing the advantage of group biography was the identification of both blood and friendship ties. Genealogical records provided evidence of the degree to which the women matched the "atypical" model of women union leaders. Unmarried women dominated the union's honorary leaders, and they were a mix of young and older women. Over time the ageing 1920s group increasingly matched the atypical model. Married women remained in the minority.

With union records one of the primary data sources, there is little to support either the contention that these women led differently from male union leaders at the time or could be described as transformational leaders. The more appropriate model to explain the union's leadership from the second period is administrative conservatorship. Faced with a hostile men's union and ongoing organisational fragility, the pervading leadership theme was institutional integrity, preservation and protection of the members' "sectional interests." The founders' values and principles, that the needs of women confectioners were best served by a union led by and for women, were reinforced in successive debates over amalgamation.

How representative were the women? In one respect, they were representative, given that their commitment to separate organising mirrored that of the members. Whether another group could have withstood both the men's antagonism and the organisational fragility is another matter. Other women's unions had amalgamated with their male counterparts by the early 1920s and so in this regard, the women could be seen as unrepresentative. Upon her retirement Margaret Wearne observed: "Many of the girls in the industry do not appreciate the work done by the union in improving their wages and conditions and take too much for granted." (106) Protecting the union's values and role through successive generations of members was the objective of the 1920s group. Not only were they able to do this as branch officers but they were also able to reinforce this at the workplace, where they maintained a visible union presence as shop stewards and presidents. And although passage of the amalgamation revealed unexpected fissures in the membership/leadership relationship, protection of the women's sectional interests through sectional representation marked the beginning of the next chapter for female confectionery workers in the amalgamated union.

(1.) See the growth in specialist journals and special issues such as The Leadership Quarterly (and its yearly reviews), Leadership, and "Engendering Leadership," Gender, Work and Organisation 18 (2011).

(2.) For example, see Jennifer Binns, "The Ethics of Relational Leading: Gender Matters," Gender, Work and Organisation 15 (2008): 600-20; Joan Eveline, Ivory Basement Leadership: Power and Invisibility in the Changing University (Perth: University of Western Australia Press, 2004); Amanda Sinclair, Doing Leadership Differently (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1998).

(3.) Joan Acker, "Hierarchies, Jobs, Bodies: A Theory of Gendered Organisations," Gender and Society 4 (1990): 139-58; Cynthia Cockburn, In The Way of Women: Men's Resistance to Sex Equality in Organisations (Cornell: ILR Press, 1991); Alice H. Eagly and Mary C. Johannesen-Schmidt, "The Leadership Styles of Women and Men," Journal of Social Issues 57 (2001): 781-97; Alice H. Eagly and Linda L. Carli, "The Female Leadership Advantage: An Evaluation of the Evidence," The Leadership Quarterly 14, no. 6 (2003): 807-34.

(4.) Acker, "Hierarchies"; Deborah Brennan and Louise Chappell, "No Fit Place for Women": Women in New South Wales Politics 1856-2006 (Kensington: UNSW Press, 2006).

(5.) Linda Briskin, "Union Renewal, Postheroic Leadership, and Women's Organizing," Labor Studies Journal 36, no. 4 (2011): 512; Joan Acker, "Gendered Organisations and Intersectionality: Problems and Possibilities," Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal 31 (2012): 214-24; Linda Briskin, "Victimisation and Agency: the Social Construction of Union Women's Leadership," Industrial Relations Journal 37 (2006): 364-65; Joanna Liddle and Elisabeth Michielsens, "Women and Public Power: Class Does Make a Difference," International Review of Sociology 10 (2010): 207-22.

(6.) Harry Knowles, "Trade Union Leadership: Biography and the Role of Historical Context," Leadership 3, no. 2 (2007): 207.

(7.) Tom Redman, "Trade Union Leadership," special issue on trade union leadership, Leadership and Organisation Development Journal 33 (2012): preface.

(8.) Leena Sudano, "Women Union Leaders: Mongrels, Martyrs, Misfits or Models for the Future?" in Strife: Sex and Politics in Labour Unions, ed. Barbara Pocock (St Leonards: Allen & Unwin, 1997), 153.

(9.) Briskin, "Victimisation and Agency," 360.

(10.) Briskin, "Union Renewal," 511.

(11.) Transformational leadership is part of a leadership paradigm positing laissez faire, transactional and transformational leadership as distinct styles.

(12.) Briskin, "Victimisation and Agency," 360, 364; see Judy Wajcman, Managing Like a Man: Women and Men in Corporate Management (University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1998).

(13.) Sue Ledwith, Fiona Colgan, Paul Joyce and Mike Hayes, "The Making of Women Trade Union Leaders," Industrial Relations Journal 2 (1990): 112.

(14.) Suzanne Franzway, "Women Working in a Greedy Institution: Commitment and Emotional Labour in the Union Movement," Gender, Work and Organisation 7 (2000): 258-68.

(15.) Gill Kirton and Geraldine Healy, "Women's Union Leadership in Barbados: Exploring the Local within the Global," Leadership and Organisation Development Journal 33 (2012): 733. See also Gill Kirton, The Making of Women Trade Unionists (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2006).

(16.) Briskin, "Union Renewal," 514-15.

(17.) Ibid., 519.

(18.) Kevin Theakston, "Comparative Biography and Leadership in Whitehall," Public Administration 75, no. 4 (1997): 663.

(19.) Ibid., 663.

(20.) Larry Terry, Leadership of Public Bureaucracies (London: Sage, 1995), as cited in Knowles, "Trade Union Leadership," 198.

(21.) Sudano, "Women Union Leaders"; Patricia Roby and Lynet Uttal, "Putting It All Together: The Dilemmas of Rank-and-File Union Leaders," in Women and Unions: Forging a Partnership, ed. Dorothy Sue Cobble, (Ithaca, New York: ILR Press, 1993): 363-77.

(22.) Cathy Brigden, "Tracing and Placing Women Trade Union Leaders: A Study of the Female Confectioners Union," Journal of Industrial Relations 54 (2012): 238-55.

(23.) Ledwith et al., "The Making."

(24.) Mark Hearn and Harry Knowles, "Representative Lives? Biography and Labour History," Labour History, no. 100 (May 2011): 127-44.

(25.) Lawrence Stone, "Prosopography," Daedalus 100, no. 1 (1971): 46-79.

(26.) Barbara Caine, Biography and History (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010), 64.

(27.) Theakston, "Comparative Biography," 656.

(28.) Knowles, "Trade Union Leadership," 195.

(29.) Theakston, "Comparative Biography," 655.

(30.) Hearn and Knowles, "Representative Lives?" 129.

(31.) Linda Briskin, "Autonomy, Diversity, and Integration: Union Women's Separate Organizing in North America and Western Europe in the Context of Restructuring and Globalization," Women's Studies International Forum 22 (1999): 543-54.

(32.) Argus, February 18, 1915, 8.

(33.) Female Confectioners Union (FCU) Members Meeting, 3 October 1916, Female Confectioners Union: Records, 1916-45, reference no. 1988.0155, University of Melbourne Archives. All FCU meetings referred to are held at this location.

(34.) Ibid. Eight of the nine were listed as Miss in the minutes.

(35.) Ledwith et al., "The Making," 112.

(36.) Ibid., 113.

(37.) Ibid., 113-14.

(38.) Cockburn, In the Way of Women.

(39.) FCU Members Meeting, 22 January, 19 March 1917.

(40.) FCU Committee Meeting, 9 October 1916, 25 June 1917.

(41.) Woman's Clarion, November 7, 1921, 3.

(42.) Parker had been sent to Sydney to follow up organising opportunities in mid-1917 and soon after, was reported as being "very ill with a nervous breakdown." FCU Members Meeting, 20 August 1917.

(43.) The union had provided some payment to Mrs Donohue but she fell out with Secretary Johnston, culminating in a call for a re-election for secretary at the end of 1917.

(44.) FCU Members Meeting, 10 December 1917.

(45.) Smith (29 votes) defeated Parker (13 votes) and Miss Leary (11 votes), FCU Members Meeting, 24 June 1918.

(46.) Isabel Parker, her occupation listed as organiser, lived with her sister, Marion, a tailoress in St Kilda in 1919. That same year, Isabel married a widower.

(47.) Ledwith et al, "The Making."

(48.) The Woman's Clarion, November 7, 1921, 3.

(49.) See for instance, D'Aprano's reference, drawing on Smith's article, to Margaret Wearne and Daisy Diwell as the pioneers of the union. Zelda D'Aprano, Kath Williams: The Unions and the Fight for Equal Pay (North Melbourne: Spinifex Press, 2001), 30.

(50.) Elizabeth Gainsford Burns worked as a saleswoman and confectioner, living variously in Brunswick and Newport.

(51.) Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), Census of the Commonwealth of Australia, 1921, Cat. 2110.0 (Canberra: ABS, 1921).

(52.) FCU General Meeting, 20 January 1919.

(53.) FCU Special General Meeting, 10 May 1920.

(54.) The Woman's Clarion, November 7, 1921, 3.

(55.) FCU General Meetings, 2, 16 February 1920; FCU Management Committee Meetings, 28 June, 18 October 1920.

(56.) FCU Management Committee Meeting, 1 September 1924.

(57.) The Woman's Clarion, November 7, 1921, 3.

(58.) Grace Hanson died of anaemia.

(59.) FCU Management Committee Meeting, 19 December 1921.

(60.) Franzway, "Greedy Institution."

(61.) FCU General Meetings, various.

(62.) FCU Victorian Sub-Branch Committee Meeting, 11 December 1916.

(63.) Female Confectioners Wages Board Minutes, 19 June 1919, Confectioners Wages Board Minutes, VPRS 5467/P0001/10, Public Records Office of Victoria.

(64.) Cynthia Cockburn and Susan Ormrod, Gender and Technology in the Making (London: Sage, 1993), 6; Raewyn Connell, "A Thousand Miles from Kind: Men, Masculinities and Modern Institutions," Journal of Men's Studies 16 (2008): 242.

(65.) Joy Damousi, "Margaret Wearne (1893-1967)," Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol. 16 (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 2002): 509.

(66.) Woman's Clarion, June-August 1925.

(67.) Argus, August 8, 1927, 14.

(68.) Gill Kirton and Geraldine Healy, "Transforming Union Women: The Role of Women Trade Union Officials in Union Renewal," Industrial Relations Journal 30 (1999): 37.

(69.) In 1929, Wearne declined nomination for the THC's industrial disputes committee.

(70.) Briskin, "Union Renewal," 511.

(71.) Secretary's Report, FCU Annual Conference, Victorian-Tasmanian Branch, 9 March 1924.

(72.) Transcript of conference with Commissioner Stewart, 25 October 1928, included in the FCU Minute Book following the 1929 minutes, FCU: Records.

(73.) Food Trades Federation Minutes, 8 July 1952, Food Trades Federation: Records, 1925-68, reference no. 1982.0083, University of Melbourne Archives.

(74.) Binns, "Ethics of Relational Leading."

(75.) Jennifer Feeney and Judith Smart, "Jean Daley and May Brodney: Perspectives on Labour," in Double Time: Women in Victoria: 150 Years, ed. Marilyn Lake and Farley Kelly (Ringwood, Victoria: Penguin Books, 1985).

(76.) See for more biographical details, see Brigden, "Tracing and Placing," 244-49.

(77.) Ledwith et al., "The Making," 117.

(78.) Woman's Clarion, March 1924, 10.

(79.) Brigden, "Tracing and Placing."

(80.) Linda Briskin, "Unions and Women's Organising in Canada and Sweden," in Women's Organising and Public Policy in Canada and Sweden, ed. Linda Briskin and Mona Eliasson (Montreal: McGill-Queens University Press 1999), 161.

(81.) Neither of the two married women, May Webber and Ivy Chapman, served on the WCOC delegation.

(82.) Argus, March 7, 1938, 4; August 22, 1940, 8. Jean Daley was WCOC secretary from 1932 to 1947.

(83.) FCU Annual Meeting, 12 February 1923.

(84.) Woman's Clarion, June 1927.

(85.) FCU Management Committee Meeting, 8 March 1926; Argus, August 26, 1926, 16.

(86.) FCU Branch Meeting, 12 June 1922.

(87.) FCU Branch Meeting, 11 July 1922.

(88.) Theakston, "Comparative Biography," 663.

(89.) Ida Nagel married William Scott in 1933.

(90.) Myrtle Evans was a confectioner living in South Melbourne in 1931.

(91.) FCU General Meeting, 9 February 1936.

(92.) ABS, Census of the Commonwealth of Australia, 1933, Cat. 2110.0 (Canberra: ABS, 1933).

(93.) FCU General Meeting, 12 July 1943.

(94.) Kirton, The Making.

(95.) FCU General Meeting, 10 May 1943; FCU Special Meeting, 14 June 1943.

(96.) FCU State Conference, 23 February 1935.

(97.) FCU Federal Council Meeting, 19 January 1936.

(98.) FCU Special Executive Meeting, 23 May 1942.

(99.) Laura Bennett, "Job Classification and Women Workers: Institutional Practices, Technological Change and the Conciliation and Arbitration System 1907-72," Labour History, no. 51 (1986): 20.

(100.) Helen Bull was born Nellie Sophie Doris Vafiopulous in Bendigo in 1900. Ethel Skipper nee McNeilly was born in Scotland about 1900, emigrating in 1912.

(101.) Grace Keamy was a munitions worker in 1942.

(102.) The Australian Council of Trade Unions' role in 1944 as an amalgamation facilitator helped the two unions reach agreement.

(103.) Maud, previously the third delegate, declined nomination. FCU General Meeting, 11 December 1944.

(104.) FCU Special Meeting, 22 January 1945.

(105.) FCU General Meeting, 19 February 1945.

(106.) Barrier Miner, August 2, 1952, 9.

Cathy Brigden *

* The author would like to thank the two anonymous referees and the editors of Labour History for their comments and suggestions.

Cathy Brigden is Associate Professor in the School of Management and the coordinator of the Women + Work research cluster in the Centre for Sustainable Organisations and Work at RMIT University. She has published extensively on trade union women's history. <cathy.brigden@rmit.edu.au>