Tag: trade unions

TUC: A May Day to Remember

May Day is unique. It’s the day in the year when we celebrate the bonds that bring us together as workers and trade unionists. And the fundamental message of May Day – friendship between workers of all backgrounds and nationalities – resonates more strongly than ever before (writes TUC General Secretary FRANCES O’GRADY).

This year, I’m proud to be speaking at the Chesterfield May Day rally, organised by the brilliant local trades council. And I’ll be arguing that even amidst these tough times, by sticking together and organising together, working people can win together.

There’s never been more need for that unity and solidarity. The brutal war in Ukraine casts a terrible shadow. Tech change is transforming our economy and the jobs we do. And the climate emergency demands we get our act together on a just transition to net zero, with good, green, unionised jobs.

In Britain and right around the world, workers also face an intensifying cost-of-living crisis. Energy bills are now rising 14 times faster than wages. One in three parents with pre-schoolers spend over a third of their pay on childcare. And last week, the ONS found that a quarter of people are already struggling to make ends meet – and worse is on the horizon.

That’s why the TUC is demanding an Emergency Budget to boost workers’ incomes. From a real living wage and fair pay agreements to a decent rise for public sector workers, there’s plenty we can do. And action on the cost-of-living must include a windfall tax on the excess profits of the energy giants, alongside the equalisation of capital gains and income tax. It’s time to raise tax on wealth, not workers.

As workers struggle, the government is all over the place. Despite promising to upgrade our rights, ministers look set to delay the Employment Bill yet again.

For some reason, the Chancellor seems more concerned about defending legalised tax avoidance, such as non dom status, than real wages, benefits and living standards. And, as Partygate rumbles on, the PM is focused on saving on his own skin: the next “work-related” event he attends could be his own leaving do.

The recent scandal at P&O underlines why we need change. The no-notice sacking of 800 skilled seafarers, and their replacement with cheap agency labour, is gangster capitalism at its worst. I’ve been proud to speak at P&O rallies and take to the airwaves to demand the reinstatement of those workers – alongside tough action against P&O and parent firm DP World.

The TUC will always support workers taking action against injustice. Across the economy, from our railways to our universities, we’re seeing an upsurge in strikes as workers say: enough is enough. With our membership growing for each of the past four years, we are a movement on the front foot.

And on Saturday 18 June, trade unionists will be gathering in London for our national demonstration: We Demand Better. We’ll be demanding action on the cost of living, a decent pay rise for all, and a New Deal for working people. So spread the word among your friends, colleagues and members – book those coaches and trains – and let’s make this a real show of strength and unity.

Have a wonderful May Day – and solidarity to all.

Today (Sunday) is International Workers’ Day, an annual celebration of working people.

After two hard years, when many workers faced extraordinary challenges due to the pandemic, they now find themselves in the midst of a cost of living crisis.

The TUC is using today’s celebration to highlight the vital role unions play in helping their members gain fair pay rises through collective bargaining.

Unionised workers are paid on average five per cent more than other similar workers. This is equivalent to £1,285 a year based on the average wage.

TUC Deputy General Secretary Paul Nowak, who will speak at today’s May Day rally in Trafalgar Square,said: “International workers day should be a time to celebrate. And working people can be proud of how they have brought the nation through the pandemic.

“But they are now in another crisis. The cost of living is racing ahead of their pay. And our Conservative government is doing nothing to help them.

“Working people need the power of government on their side. We need an emergency budget to give direct support with surging bills. And ministers should give working people and their unions stronger powers to negotiate fair pay deals.

“Join us at our national march and rally on 18 June to demand better for working people. Better pay, better rights and a better voice at work through unions. Only stronger unions can deliver a new deal for working people. Whether it’s winning in the workplace, or influencing government, it’s unions that make the difference

“If you’re not in a unionised workplace get together with your workmates and join a union. If there are enough of you, your employer is legally required to sit down and negotiate a fair pay rise with you. But if you’re not in a union, you have little bargaining power. And you lose out – big time.”

Join the march and rally in London, 18 June

UK faces ‘biggest rail strike in history’

THE RMT union is preparing to ballot members over what could be the biggest rail strike in British history.

RMT senior assistant general secretary Eddie Dempsey said it is preparing to ballot members over pay freezes and safety standards.

Eddie Dempsey told GB News: “This dispute’s been a long time in the making. We’ve been through the pandemic period where our members made lots of changes to their working practices and worked right through a pandemic to keep the country moving and many of our members have had pay freezes.

“Now some of them are in the third year of a pay freeze. We’ve changed how we work, we’ve made lots of sacrifices to help the railways going and we’ve been working with the industry in the rail industry recovery group, putting forward ideas on how to help the industry recover.

“But that’s turned into a forum where we’re told now the intention is to strip £2 billion out of the rail industry to make that money come out through stripping out jobs and attacking terms and conditions and keeping wages low.”

Mr Dempsey made his comments during On The Money with Liam Halligan on GB News yesterday. He said the cuts, which have been proposed because of fewer passenger numbers due to people working at home, threaten to put safety at risk.

He added: “We’ve put forward lots of ideas on how they can save money.

“We’ve told them many ways they could make efficiency savings, but they’re intent on making those efficiency savings in removing safety critical jobs, in slashing maintenance standards and safety schedules, and in keeping wages down and tearing up terms and conditions for railway workers.

Mr Dempsey said that money could be saved by cutting pay for executives. “We’ve pointed out that director pay is out of control with Network Rail

“Seven of the highest paid civil servants in the country are Network Rail employees.

“If you strip their money back, just to what the Prime Minister’s being paid, you’d save nearly £6 million a year.

“They’ve got eight non-executive directors, they spent nearly three quarters of a million pounds for those people to attend eight meetings over one year during a pandemic.”

MPs urged to back training scheme for workers to support just transition

Environmental campaigners and trade unionists have called for MPs to back the creation of an Offshore Training Scheme, as a key solution to removing barriers for oil and gas workers transferring into renewables. 

The idea is backed by offshore workers and MSPs from all parties expressed support for an Offshore Training Passport when it was debated in the Scottish Parliament in October 2021.

The Skills and Post-16 Education Bill is making its way through the UK Parliament, with the final vote to take place tomorrow – Monday 21st February. Caroline Lucas MP has tabled three amendments which would require the UK Government to publish a strategy for the creation of an Offshore Training Scheme within a year. Other parties are being urged to back these amendments.

A 2021 survey of 610 offshore workers by Friends of the Earth Scotland, Platform and Greenpeace UK found 97% of workers said they were concerned about training costs. On average, each worker paid £1800 every year to maintain the qualifications required to work in offshore oil and gas. For any worker looking to move into renewables, they are expected to duplicate much of their existing training, at even greater cost.

Friends of the Earth Scotland’s Just Transition Campaigner Ryan Morrison said: “The skills and experience of offshore workers are vital to enable a rapid shift to renewable energy, but workers cannot be expected to fork out thousands of pounds from their own pocket to duplicate qualifications they already have.

“It is time for MPs to listen to these workers by creating a regulated training passport to ensure a just transition for offshore workers. They have a golden opportunity to do exactly that this week by supporting these amendments.”

94% of workers surveyed supported an Offshore Training Passport to standardise training in the offshore energy industry, removing duplication where possible and significantly reducing the burden of costs faced by often self-employed workers. The amendments put forward by Caroline Lucas would achieve the demands of workers in the industry.

RMT Regional Officer, Jake Molloy said: “The urgency of this issue cannot be overstated. The Trade Unions have been banging this particular drum since the oil and gas downturn of 2014 and the industry and their standards bodies have collectively failed the workforce.

“We need an intervention now; we need the political will and support of MPs across the country to address the injustice of having to pay for work, which is the situation faced by thousands of UK workers! All of the talk about a “Just” transition will continue to be nothing more than ‘talk’ if MPs fail to support this initiative.”

+++ Workers case study (Jack is a pseudonym) +++

Jack*, 39, has worked in the industry for 12 years. He works as a LOLER Focal Point for rigs, having worked his way up from being a trainee rigger.

Jack said: “The companies used to pay for your training costs. So you’d have to cover your first lot of training yourself but after that, once you were established with a company, they would pay for your training because they want you to work for them.

“Now it’s very different. You’ve got to cover all these costs yourself, and they need redoing every couple of years so you’re in this constant cycle, and often the courses do overlap. And some of these agencies are making you pay for your own Personal Protective Equipment that you need to work on an oil rig.

“I have thought about working in renewables, but that’d be thousands of pounds you’d have to pay to work in both industries. It’d just be too much, it costs an absolute fortune just to stay in one sector. 

“I was paid off last year, so my certificates lapsed. I ended up having to pay £3,000 for training to only get four months of work. 

“Shelling out all this money does cause stress, and it does have an impact on your family and your living costs. There’s lots of people worrying about how they’re going to pay the mortgage. I know people who’ve packed it in altogether because working offshore is just too expensive.”

Number of workers on universal credit up by 1.3 million since the eve of the pandemic

  • 130% rise in working claimants during the pandemic 
  • Low-income workers facing “perfect storm” this spring unless ministers improve “woefully inadequate” levels of support, warns union body 
  • Cost-of-living crisis already depressing value of UC, TUC analysis reveals 
  • *NEW POLL* shows many families already struggling to make ends meet 

The TUC has warned that millions of low-income workers face a “perfect storm” this April with universal credit (UC) falling behind the cost of living as energy bills and taxes rise. 

The warning comes as new TUC analysis reveals that the number of workers on UC has increased by 1.3 million since the eve of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

The analysis of official statistics shows that over 2.3 million workers were in receipt of UC at the end of 2021, compared to just over one million on the eve of the pandemic in February 2020. 

This represents an increase of 130 per cent over the last two years and means 1 in 14 (7.2 per cent) working adults now claim UC. 

The TUC says the huge rise in UC recipients has been driven by working households being pushed into financial hardship during Covid, with millions facing a cost-of-living crunch this year. 

Basic value of universal credit now lower than at start of pandemic 

The TUC says that the basic value of UC is now lower than at the start of the pandemic as a result of UC not keeping up with inflation. 

TUC estimates show that the value of UC has fallen by £12 a month in real terms when measured against CPI inflation and £21 a month when measured against RPI inflation compared to just before the pandemic (February 2020).  

The TUC says this trend will only get worse in the months ahead with inflation forecast to rise further. 

Struggling to cover the basics 

The TUC warns that millions of low-paid families face a crunch point in April when energy bills and national insurance contributions go up – at the same time as UC continues to fall in value. 

New polling – carried out for the union body before last week’s energy cap announcement and Bank of England forecasts – shows that many are already struggling to make ends meet: 

  • One in eight workers (12 per cent) say they will struggle to afford the basics in the next six months. And a fifth of working people (22 per cent) say they’ll struggle to afford more than the basics. 
  • Low-paid workers are more likely to be struggling. One in six (17 per cent) low-paid workers (those earning less than £15,000 a year) say they will struggle to afford basics in the next six months, and three in 10 (29 per cent) say they’ll struggle to afford more than the basics. 

Parents of young children, disabled workers, key workers and BME workers are more likely to be struggling: 

  • Nearly one in five families (18 per cent) with kids under 11 will struggle to afford the basics 
  • Over one in five (21 per cent) disabled workers will struggle to afford the basics, compared to 10 per cent of non-disabled workers 
  • 14 per cent of key workers say they’ll struggle to afford the basics in the next six months, compared to 10 per cent of non-key workers 
  • 14 per cent of BME workers say they’ll struggle to afford the basics in the next six months, compared to 11 per cent of white workers 

The poll also reveals that a fifth of workers (21 per cent) say they have Christmas debts to pay off this year – a number that rises to over a quarter (28 per cent) for workers with children of school age. 

Better support needed 

The TUC says the government must do far more to help struggling households to get through the months ahead. 

The union body says the cost-of-living support announced by the Chancellor on Thursday is “woefully inadequate” and will provide families with just £7 extra a week – most of which will have to be repaid. 

The TUC is also calling for UK Government to use the upcoming spring budget to: 

  • Increase to UC to 80 per cent of the real Living Wage. 
  • Introduce a windfall tax on energy companies, using the money to reduce household energy bills 
  • Boost the minimum wage to least £10 an hour now 
  • Work with unions to get pay rising across the economy 

TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Millions of low-paid workers face a perfect storm this April.  

“At the same time as energy prices and national insurance contributions shoot up, universal credit is falling in value. 

“The government must do far more to help struggling families get through the tough times ahead. The support package announced by the Chancellor last week is woefully inadequate. 

“Universal credit urgently needs boosting and we need further action to reduce fuel costs for those battling to make ends meet. 

“Oil and energy companies shouldn’t be making bumper profits, while many struggle to heat their homes. 

“If ministers fail to do what is necessary, more households will be pushed below the breadline.” 

On the need to boost pay, Frances added: “The best way to give working families long-term financial security is to get pay rising across the economy. 

“That means increasing the minimum wage to at least £10 an hour now, and ministers requiring employers to negotiate sector-wide fair pay agreements with unions.” 

Can your employer force you back into the office?

There have been reports of people being forced back to workplaces without proper consultation, even as Covid-19 cases remain high, or forced to stay at home due to money-saving office closures (writes TUC’s ALICE ARKWRIGHT). Employers should consult with unions to manage this period positively – rather than issuing directives.

So, what can you do if you feel like you’re being forced to stay at home or go back into the office?  

Talk to your colleagues

If your boss is asking you to return to the workplace or stay at home and you don’t feel comfortable, you should speak to other members and your union rep immediately – they may feel the same about the situation. 

If you raise the issue collectively with your employer, they’re much more likely to listen. Employers shouldn’t be imposing changes on anyone. You and your colleagues should clearly lay out what you want and why it’s beneficial for both you and your employer.  

There’s still limited access to childcare at the moment, so parents and carers may need specific arrangements. Your boss should be working with you and your workmates to understand this.  

And suggesting pay cuts for home workers, as we’ve heard in the media, is the last thing employers should be doing. People have shown huge flexibility during the pandemic and worked hard to keep the country going – now is not the time to be making threats.   

Brush up on health and safety 

There are lots of factors that your employer needs to think about at this time. Primarily, health and safety – is your workplace safe to be in and has your employer considered the mental health impact of returning to the workplace? 

This could include feelings of isolation with continued homeworking or anxiety about returning to the workplace. Our latest webinar provides all you need to know on health and safety at work since government restrictions were lifted.  

Know your rights 

You have certain rights when deciding where to work: 

  1. Employment contract 

Check your employment contract. You might have a “place of work” included and, it could be a breach of contact if your employer unilaterally imposes a change of location, without consent. This is important if your employer is saying you must work from home permanently.  

  1. Safety 

The virus hasn’t gone away, and workers will want to know what their employer is doing to keep them safe. It’s a legal requirement for bosses to carry out a workplace risk assessment. Employers must also carry out the actions that come from their risk assessment – this could include continuing with home working where possible.  

If you think there is a serious or imminent danger to you or your colleagues, you may have the right to leave work depending on the specific circumstances. The relevant law is Section 44 of the Employment Act 1996 and it covers all employees. More information on your health and safety rights on returning to work can be found here. 

And remember, your employer still has a duty to keep you safe when you’re working from home – see our guidance on risk assessments for homeworkers.

  1. Flexible working requests

Under current law, all employees have the right to request flexible working arrangements, this can include a request to change your location either permanently or for part of your working time. Any employee can make a request, you don’t have to be a parent or carer, but you must have been in the job for 26 weeks and you can only make one request per year.  

Employers have to review these requests fairly and respond within 3 months. They can turn down requests for ‘business reasons’ – but we’re campaigning for better flexible working rights for everyone. 

  1. Reasonable adjustments 

Employers have a legal duty under the Equality Act 2010 to proactively make reasonable adjustments to remove, reduce or prevent any disadvantages that disabled workers face. The law recognises that to secure equality for disabled people, work may need to be structured differently, support given, and barriers removed. This can include working from home.  

If you’re a disabled worker and have been working from home successfully during the pandemic, continuing to work from home could be a reasonable adjustment that your employer can provide, should you want it – but bosses must also provide reasonable adjustments in the workplace.  

  1. Right to time off in emergencies to look after children 

There are huge gaps in childcare provision leaving parents without the support they need to juggle work and care. If your employer has given you short notice to return to the workplace, by law anyone classed as an employee has the right to take time off work to help someone who is dependent on them in an unexpected event.

A dependent includes children but also a partner, someone you live with or a person who relies on you to make care arrangements. If you’re looking at any of these options, talk to your union and they can support you.

Finally, if you’re not in a union, join one.

Unionised workplaces have negotiated for additional access to flexible work and support to manage care that goes way above what you get under the law.  

You’re better off in a union – joining a union today

We’re currently running a survey on flexible working – have your say

Sign up to TUC Congress

Congress is open to everyone from Sunday 12 September until Tuesday 14 September. Come and join us!

Sign up for TUC Congress

As we recover from the pandemic, how do we build a world of work that gives everyone the dignity and fairness we deserve?

Every trade unionist is invited to join us online for three days of discovery and debate at Congress 2021.

What to expect

Between Sunday 12 September and Tuesday 14 September, union members across the UK are meeting online to discuss how we build stronger unions and mobilise for a new deal for workers.

We’ll have debates on investing in a green economy, with good unionised jobs. We’ll discuss tackling racism, highlighting the work of the TUC’s Anti-Racism Task Force. And we’ll campaign for an overdue pay rise for our key workers and an end to the scandal of fire and rehire.

We’ll hear from Keir Starmer, leader of the opposition, and TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady, as well as union leaders, activists and key workers. A full online fringe events programme offers everyone a deeper chance to engage on issues they care about.

Join us

Congress is open to everyone. We have a growing union movement, based on our work keeping members safe and protecting their rights and livelihoods throughout the crisis.

This is our moment to demand real change for working people.

Join us by signing up today.

And please share with friends and colleagues on Facebook and Twitter using #TUC21

Teaching union welcomes school re-opening plans

Following the announcement from the First Minister on the reopening of Scotland’s schools, EIS Assistant Secretary David Belsey said: “The EIS welcomes the Scottish Government plans for schools to reopen with broadly the same mitigations in place as when they closed earlier this year.

“We agree the continued wearing of facemasks, physical distancing measures, effective ventilation of classrooms and good hygiene regimes need to remain in full force.

“The Scottish Government’s acknowledgement of the importance of  strengthening the guidance around ventilation and the additional funding to close any gaps in this provision is extremely welcome and a significant improvement to the current mitigations.

“The completion of vaccination programmes for all school staff is vital and the EIS believes that voluntary vaccination of 12 – 17 year-olds would be sensible and may go some way towards making schools safer places and help to address the anxieties of some young people.

“The six week period of no changes to mitigations will provide a degree of reassurance to school staff and some certainty as to what to expect when returning to classrooms.

“This will also allow for meaningful consultation between Scottish Government, Local Authorities and teachers’ unions before any further changes. The EIS will study the new guidance and seek to address any emerging issues with the Scottish Government and employers.”

Tolpuddle Martyrs Festival goes online this weekend

Tolpuddle Martyrs’ Festival 2021 goes online! 

We are very pleased to announce that the Tolpuddle Martyrs’ Festival 2021 will be hitting your screens again this weekend.

With Covid restrictions still uncertain for large events, together with our unions and sponsors, we are organising yet another packed agenda online.

From Friday 16th – Sunday 18th July 2021, we will be bringing you discussions, debates, radical history lessons, lots of music and all the best of the Festival straight into your living room.

Fans of the Festival will be able to watch freeon our Facebook group, Youtube channel, or right here on our website. 

Want to be the first to hear the latest? – make sure to join our vibrant Tolpuddle Martyrs Festival Facebook group!  

TUC calls for long Covid to be recognised as a disability to prevent “massive” discrimination

The TUC has called for long Covid to be urgently recognised as a disability and Covid-19 as an occupational disease, to give workers access to legal protections and compensation.

The call comes as the TUC publishes an in-depth report on workers’ experiences of long Covid during the pandemic.

More than 3,500 workers responded to a TUC survey on the impact of long Covid on people’s daily working lives.

The survey reveals that, of those surveyed:

  • Nearly 3 in 10 (29 per cent) have experienced symptoms lasting longer than a year.
  • More than 9 in 10 (95 per cent) have been left with ongoing symptoms.
  • A clear majority had experienced side effects including brain fog (72 per cent), shortness of breath (70 per cent), difficulty concentrating (62 per cent) and memory problems (54 per cent).
  • Over half (52 per cent) had experienced some form of discrimination or disadvantage due to their condition.

The report highlights how frontline workers have been disproportionately affected by long Covid.

Over three-quarters (79 per cent) of those who responded to the TUC’s survey identify themselves as key workers, with the majority working in either education or health and social care.

More than two-thirds (68 per cent) of respondents were women. 

Long Covid in the workplace

The report reveals the extent of discrimination in the workplace towards those with long Covid.

Over half (52 per cent) of respondents said they had experienced some form of discrimination or disadvantage due to their condition.

Workers told the TUC how they were faced with disbelief and suspicion when they disclosed their symptoms:

  • Around a fifth (19 per cent) said their employer had questioned the impact of their symptoms.
  • One in eight (13 per cent) faced questions from their employer about whether they had long Covid at all.
  • One in 20 respondents (5 per cent) said they had been forced out of their jobs altogether because they had long Covid. 

Respondents described the difficulties that they faced trying to work while experiencing a range of long Covid symptoms.

One person – who contracted Covid-19 at work – said that when their employer went ahead with an international event in the first wave of the pandemic: “I was still expected to work long hours, handle stressful situations in impossible timeframes, find and fill in forms (which I struggled to do because of cognitive issues), and spend hours on Zoom calls when I struggled to talk and breathe, resulting in extreme chest pain, shortness of breath, exhaustion and severe symptom relapses.”

Respondents were also concerned about what the future might hold for them at work given the amount of sick leave they had been forced to take due to their long Covid symptoms.

Around one in six respondents (18 per cent) said the amount of sick leave they had taken had triggered absence management or HR processes.

New rights and protections for those with long Covid

The TUC is calling for the government to urgently recognise long Covid as a disability under the Equality Act.

The Equality Act 2010 defines disability as a “physical or mental impairment…[that] has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on [their] ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities”. Government guidance makes clear that ‘long-term’ means 12 months or more.

The TUC says that many who have long Covid already meet this criteria and should therefore be protected under the law rather than forced to go through the stress of employment tribunals.

Extending Equality Act 2010 protections so they cover workers with long Covid would ensure employers cannot legally discriminate against them. It would also put a duty on employers to make reasonable adjustments that remove, reduce or prevent any disadvantages workers with long Covid face, as for any other enduring condition or disability.  

In addition, the union body is calling on ministers to recognise Covid-19 as an occupational disease – entitling employees and their dependents to protection and compensation if they contracted the virus while working.

TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Many of the workers who have carried us through the pandemic are now living with debilitating symptoms of long Covid. And we’re beginning to hear troubling stories of a massive wave of discrimination against people with long Covid.  

“It’s time to recognise this condition properly – and make sure workers who are living with long Covid get the support they need to do their jobs.

“Long Covid must be recognised as a disability. That would mean workers are protected by the Equality Act, and would have a right to get reasonable adjustments at work.

“And Covid-19 should be designated as an occupational disease. That would allow workers who contracted Covid-19 at work and are living with the consequences to claim the compensation they are due.  

“Employers must also act. They should make sure they make reasonable adjustments for workers with long Covid, and complete specific risk assessments to make sure workers with long Covid are safe at work.” 

Lesley Macniven, Chair of the Long Covid Support Group, who worked with the TUC on its report, said: “Even those with ‘mild’ Covid can suffer daily with fluctuating symptoms, exhausted and alone. Promises we’ll ‘just get better’ have been proved otherwise.

“A year on we need legally enforceable guidance for employers and government – informed by unions, occupational health and patient groups with significant lived experience managing long Covid.

“Patients need time to convalesce, then recuperate through a very gradual, flexible phased return to work, over months, to achieve a sustainable return.

“Long Covid is disabling young, previously healthy workers. This key step is needed to take the effects of long Covid seriously, enable rehabilitation and protect dedicated workers from discrimination due to poor understanding of the condition.”

Formatted-version-of-Long-Covid-report-v1.3-1Download

Joint union statement: We demand safety. We demand justice. We demand equality.

As trade unionists, we stand united against the epidemic of male violence. We also stand against the disproportionate threat of male violence faced by women, by Black and migrant communities, by LGBT+ individuals and by disabled people.

Violence against women and girls is rooted in structural inequalities and power imbalances between men and women. Women’s experience of violence is shaped by other factors such as ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, immigration status and disability. Experiencing intersecting inequalities compounds the threat of violence women face.

Male violence threatens women in all areas of their lives – in our homes, workplaces, and in public and digital spaces. Institutional and systemic failings enable and empower perpetrators and deny women safety and justice.

In the UK:

  • 97 per cent of young women have been sexually harassed
  • One in two women are sexually harassed in the workplace
  • 80 per cent of women of all ages have been sexually harassed in public
  • Women who report rape have a less than 4 per cent chance of it ever being heard in court
  • Three women are killed each week as a result of domestic abuse homicides

Women are not responsible for the actions of men.

We stand with survivors of male violence. With the families of Sarah Everard, Nicole Smallman and Bibaa Henry and countless others who have lost a loved one to violence.

Government must act now to dismantle institutional sexism, racism and other forms of discrimination.

To start that work, we call on Ministers to:

1. Implement a new mandatory duty on employers to prevent sexual harassment at work and ratify ILO Convention No.190

2. Include migrant women within the Domestic Abuse Bill provisions and ensure safe reporting routes for women with insecure migration status

3. Reverse the cuts to public services and ensure all relevant public sector staff receive enhanced training on preventing and responding to violence against women

4. Provide long-term funding commitments to support the provision of vital, life-saving services for survivors of domestic abuse and sexual violence that meet the level of need, including specialised by-and-for BME, LBT+ and disabled women’s services

5. Draw up a cross-departmental action plan to tackle the structural inequalities experienced by women, Black communities, LGBT+ and disabled people in work, health, education, housing and justice

We demand safety. We demand justice. We demand equality.