Women are rightly critical of trade unions. Sexism and misogyny abounds and women raising concerns about their sex-based rights have been, at best, ignored and at worst vilified and attacked. Many women now feel that unions are working in opposition to our rights. There have been calls by some to set up a union for women.

But trade unions remain a powerful force within UK society and women make up the majority of the membership. Any new organisation would find it hard to replicate the organising infrastructure of the existent trade union movement or to tempt women away from this workplace representation.

The question is can women make the union movement work for us?

To explore this, FiLiA commissioned research to:

• Identify priorities and actions for women active in the trade union movement

• Compare these priorities with those of FiLiA

• Consider where the work of TUs may align with that of FiLiA

This is a brief summary of what we found.

UK Trade Unions

Over 6 million UK workers belong to a trade union. Most unions are affiliated to the Trades Union Congress (TUC) which makes policy at its conferences.

Unions may also be affiliated to other organisations or none.

• Eleven trade unions are affiliated to the Labour Party

•  Another ten are affiliated to the Trade Union Coordinating Group

•  Twenty-eight unions are affiliated to the General Federation of Trade Unions

Most unions are also affiliated to a global federation representing workers in their trades/professions around the world.

Female Membership

Recent government figures show that while male membership of UK trade unions increased by 172,000 in 2023, female membership fell by 83,000. Although, women still make up the majority of trade union membership (3.5 million to men’s 2.9 million), this trend poses serious questions for the trade union movement and for women activists.

It would be easy to assume that this drop reflects anger at the movement’s response to the debate on sex and gender but the situation is far more complex. Large numbers of women work in the public sector where cuts in funding and poor working conditions have impacted employment; women working in the private sector may be in less organised workplaces or on precarious contracts; poor pay and high living costs mean that paying union subscriptions is low priority.

Antiquated or complex democratic processes and structural sexism put women off becoming active members. Women with caring responsibilities often do not have the time to be union reps and older women, in particular, find their voices and experience disregarded. Unions tend to offer a ‘White Knight’ model of organising where an external union representative wins a short-term workplace gain but leaves no collective organising base behind. Too many unions still rely on the idea of membership as insurance rather than a way to build grassroots collective power.

Female union membership also varies according to industry as indicated in the following graphs. The graph below shows the eleven largest UK unions. Ten are affiliated to the Trades Union Congress; The Royal College of Nursing (highlighted red), is not.

Graph 1: Unions with total membership of 100,000 +

These unions collectively represent 4.5 million members and the bulk of female trade union membership. However, smaller unions, especially those with high female density, also play an important part in raising issues and intervening in TUC decision making.

 Graph 2: Unions with total membership of between 20,000-90,000

Campaigning priorities for women trade unionists

It is clear that that unions collectively are not doing enough for their female members.

But neither is the situation static.

Motions brought to TUC conferences in the last five years show that women activists are working hard to win change for women including in challenging sexism and misogyny within the movement itself. Unions with a strong female activist base are key in bringing these issues to the fore.

Analysis of these motions also shows the change women in the unions want to see aligns closely with the concerns of the wider women’s movement.

Graph 3: Breakdown of issues debated at Women’s TUC Conferences 2020-2024

 Historically, the labour movement has been key in major wins for women. TUC Conference motions show that they are still engaged in these fights. Unions also actively fight for women in the workplace and have won huge gains. Unions produce and promote a wealth of resources and advice for women, eg  menopause, domestic violence, challenging sexism, safe public transport.

But the inequalities women face now feel entrenched; the rights we have won under threat.

And the response of the unions is not enough.

Unions can be proud of their part in winning change for women. They have made a big difference in the material quality of our lives but they can and must do better.  Proper engagement and proportionate representation of women in positions of power and agency would not only change unions for the better but could help us transform the society in which we all live.

Women in the trade union movement are already active on many of the broader issues of concern to FiLiA and its supporters. As an energetic and active grassroots feminist organisation, FiLiA has the potential to play an important role in strengthening their hand as well as supporting other women to take up places in democratic structures and decision-making. FiLiA supporters are already in workplaces and communities around the UK alongside others representing or linked to trade unions and the wider labour movement.  Blending the organising experience of union women with the feminism of FiLiA could transform the movement.

There is work to do.

 If you would like to be involved in developing women’s activity in the trade union movement, please get in touch.