The Chocolate factory in Kalmar between 1940–1960 : Female salaries and union membership

The purpose of this essay is to examine and illustrate the working conditions of the female workers as well as their opportunity for trade-union participation from a gender and class perspective. This examination is based upon protocols spanning between the years 1940 and 1960. The method used for processing the source material is a qualitative interpretation of text combined with a smaller compilation of quantitative data. The results of the study show that the women at Kalmar chokladfabrik had poorer remuneration in relation to the men. Women's economic and social position are the factors that foremost affected their opportunity for unionization. The patriarchal gender structures and female position, in terms of class, has shown to be the foundation of her subordination and exclusion both from the social as well as the political work linked to trade-unions