In a fantastic show of solidarity, over 70 principled trade unionists joined an (unofficial) fringe meeting at TUC conference in solidarity with workers in unions taking action against toxic workplace practices, and to speak openly about the internal cultural and structural problems inherent in our unions.
It's well documented now the widespread toxic culture existing in our unions. Not only are workers in unions facing discrimination and abuse, but elected officers are now being suspended for raising issues about bullying.
Fliss Premru, a founding member of the #meTU campaign, alongside former TSSA assistant General Secretary Steve Coe, have been suspended from their union TSSA for speaking out against abuse.
Fliss spoke on behalf of the #meTU campaign and set the tone for the rest of the meeting. In just over two years, #meTU has been instrumental in breaking the veil of silence that exists. Back then, the TUC were quite willing to meet with #meTU and were assured that sexual harassment would not happen under the watch of the General Secretary. Despite being the leading organisation supporting survivors, #meTU are consistently being excluded from any discussions taking place at TUC-organised events.
This is the same TUC that unfairly sacks its workers and is placing 40 jobs at risk because they are selling off the building that was purposely built for the movement. No one knows what will happen to these workers nor is anyone questioning this decision. As the UCU Unite branch has shown, it is possible to organise as union workers and we wonder what the local union branch representing staff at TUC is doing to not only to protect the workers' jobs, but to seek a consultation on the closure. We also call on the local branch to get behind the Darren and Greg campaign, who were unfairly dismissed by the TUC and to call for their immediate reinstatement and for Unite the Union to pay their employment tribunal (ET) costs. Having won their ET, a remedy hearing will now take place on 10-11 October.
The meeting also heard about the upcoming industrial action and issues facing workers in the NEU and from Cath Pinder, ex-GMB national committee member and elected Yorkshire president who has disgracefully been expelled for defending a female official who was targeted and harassed out of her job. A meeting with the Certification Officer on Cath’s unfair exclusion from GMB will take place on 30 October.
These issues are just the tip of the iceberg. It’s incumbent on all trade unionists to demand an end to abuse and for transformative change in our unions. This culture only feeds down within the structures and it limits our ability to shape the union agenda fit for the challenges ahead.
There is one TUC-affiliated General Secretary who we commend for their ongoing support. Sarah Woolley from the Bakers' Union sent a message of support to the meeting as she unfortunately couldn’t attend. No representatives from unions affiliated to the TUC came along despite us leafleting outside for most of the day. As far as we know, no organisations from the left attended either. This points to an inherent lack of basic solidarity. But we also know people feel threatened to speak out as they see how others are being treated. This is counter to what our movement is supposed to stand for - an injury to one, is an injury to all.
Nevertheless, we are seeing an increase in people speaking out; however, this needs to go further. We need proper accountability and true democracy in our unions. Our movement has been going along unchecked for too long and it’s time to build a movement from below to change this situation.
An independent investigation into the University and College Union (UCU) will now take place as a result of Unite members taking action over a toxic workplace culture. This shows what’s possible when these issues are collectivised and challenged. It’s a stain on our movement that racist staffing policies, union busting, gagging orders and expulsions are commonplace management practices.
It’s not good enough to stay silent anymore. Silence is compliance. Trade unions are supposed to be democratic organisations of the working class, they should not be playgrounds for power and control. The shocking attacks and targeting of trade unionists must end. We must have minimum standards, independent scrutiny and accountability in our movement.
We don’t have all the answers to these problems, but we have a few ideas. An independent standards agency, free from interference from the TUC, would go a long way in addressing these issues. Less top-down and more horizontal structures of true equality would energise our unions and help us mount an effective challenge to ongoing economic insecurity, alienation, war and climate damage.
Please join us for our next UWU all-members meeting on 9 October 2024, 18:00, where we will report back from this fantastic meeting and discuss how we build solidarity further.
We will be participating in the upcoming Troublemakers at work conference on 5 October where we will be part of the session on democracy, misogyny, racism and abuse in our unions. Please join us in our quest for safe and healthy trade unions that are reflective of the working class as a whole.
And for those who didn't attend our rally at TUC conference, they missed the beautiful words delivered by co-branch secretary of the UCU Unite branch Thomas Rudman at the end of the meeting:
Who are we, we are trade unionists
The oldest of the old in the workers’ movement says that the world was once split in two. In one world, the world up above, the world of the few, there are the powerful, and alongside them the bosses and the bureaucrats serving those in power serving other people in power.
And in the other world, the world below, the world of the many, where a majority is often disguised as a minority, there are the people who strive to live by their principles and by what is true.
In the world up above, the world of the powerful, there are words that are spat as much as spoken, words about the other world below, the world of the many: sadly, not just the words “trade unionism,” or “trade unionist,” but also as everyone here knows the word “troublemaker,” those with “other agendas”.
So, tell us: what is this majority disguised as a minority? What is this kind of trade unionism? Who is this trade unionist? Who are we?
We are:
Anti-racists on the street in Britain, Pacifists in Putin’s Russia, Uyghur in China, Antifa in Trump’s America, queers in Uganda, a climate activist in Dakota, a Grunwick worker on hunger strike against the trade union organisation that is supposed to defend her, a Muslim in Europe, a migrant crossing the channel, a medic in Gaza, a hostage family calling for peace and to bring down Netanyahu, an Algerian boxer, Kanak in New Caledonia, Zapatista in América Latina, an unemployed miner, a Blacklisted organiser, a MeTU member, a striking worker, prison educator, DPAC co-ordinator, and to be sure, a “trouble maker”, in their own union, and a trade unionist in their own workplace.
We are trade unionists made up of the exploited, the marginalised, the rejected, and the oppressed who, along with allies, stand together and say ‘Enough'. We are the trade unionists who make up a majority disguised as a minority. We are each and every un-tolerated group and each and every ally searching for a way to speak and enact solidarity. And we will shine a light into the corners of our own movement. A light to act as a beacon that guides our struggle to realise equality. We are everything that makes power, and anyone who serves those in power, uncomfortable, because as trade unionists, in every single one of our acts of solidarity, we demonstrate that the world will no longer be the world of the powerful but something better.
What you can do:
- If you work for a trade union and are not already, join UWU today. Our next all members meeting takes place on 9 October 2024, 18:00.
- Organise a workplace meeting to discuss the issues above and what you can do to build solidarity.
- Join us at the Troublemakers at work conference on 5 October 2024 in Manchester.
- Call out abuse and discrimination where you see it - an injury to one is an injury to all.