Escape from Domestic Labour? Unionizaton of a Nursing Home

Abstract

<p>This study is an examination of the process of unionization in a nursing home. Data were collected through in-depth interviews with the employees of Journey's End Nursing Home, Prosperity Point, Nova Scotia. The focus of my research was three-fold. First to develop an understanding of why employee's unionized we examined the labour process and general work conditions prior to unionization. Second we examined the process or how the employee's went about getting unionized. Third we undertook an examination of the results of unionization. The central argument in this thesis is that the employees of Journey's End Nursing Home unionized in order to change the labour process. Specifically they wanted 'out' of what they saw as a domestic labour process. This thesis clearly demonstrates two things: firstly, that these women were employed in a domestic labour process secondly, that as a result of unionization the labour process has changed. </p>