From Cradley Heath to Liverpool: The History of Unions Betraying Female Workers

Thanks, and interesting article as usual from PK

"Power does not disappear when a union walks out. It passes to those who remain, and if the unions won’t use it, then women must organise themselves."

Maybe it's a good thing that the Unions who are fighting against women are boycotting the Women's Conference, it will mean no time will be wasted on them and the conference can concentrate on what it's there to discuss.

It's tiring that women have to do it all over again but if they end up with something that works for women it might be worth the effort.

Keep up the good work women, and create something better than the dregs you've been left with now, women are good at organising for themselves. 👊

Out of interest, are there any current or former MU members hanging out round here? Feel free to PM me if you don't want to say on here.

Great article. Further context:

www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5560214-sexist-unions-boycott-labour-womens-conference

Can non members attend the women’s conference? Im minded to go to show solidarity for the event and help boost numbers

In the Scotland section of the Times:
https://www.thetimes.com/article/b69ba4c1-0e13-4117-bdd8-85edc5b1a96b?shareToken=7090c4047053f0d68f066105a9e6feff&ver=article

Gribbon, a lawyer with McGrade Employment Solicitors in Glasgow, said: “I can confirm that our firm acts for three women who are pursuing claims of gender-critical or sex realist discrimination against their unions in the employment tribunal.
“Peggie v RCN will proceed to a seven-day hearing in Dundee commencing on September 23, 2026. Proceedings have also been raised on behalf of Fiona Macdonald against the PCS union and by Stephanie Pratt against the Unite union and final hearing dates in both those cases are awaited.”

thank you! Fantastic article. Margaret Gribbon is very impressive.

Thanks for the link, I wish all the woman the best of luck, I hope they win. 👍✊😁
I'd really like the Unions to be the one's to suffer because of their women members instead of the woman members suffering because of the Unions.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Union_of_Women_Teachers

The women teachers formed their own union here as the NUT wouldn’t support them.

Always worth remembering that TUs have a lengthy history of shafting female members to protect men.

The series of cases of female workers whose pay discrimination claims were dismissed out of hand by unions keen to protect the superior status and wages of their male members is seared on my memory. Low-paid women were belittled, disrespected and subjected to bullying and intimidation tactics by the unions. Eventually a no-win no-fee solicitor won substantial settlements for multiple groups of low-paid women, starting with the Cleveland dinner ladies.

Some of these women eventually sued their union successfully. The Court of Appeal ruled that the GMB had indirectly discriminated against female union members by recommending acceptance of a 'single status' pay deal which grossly underestimated the compensation which should be due to female equal pay Claimants. Although the objective of securing a fair single status pay deal was legitimate, the means used by the union to secure the deal (including grossly misleading the female back-pay claimants) meant that they had not pursued proportionate means of achieving that pay deal.

Cross, the solicitor who brought the claims, became a QC and the MoJ citation included the following: 'Stefan fought for equal pay rights for women who had not been heard by unions, on a no-win no-fee basis. He brought about substantial changes for several hundred thousand women, some of which received tens of thousands of pounds owed to them.' The Graun had a story about the court cases.

As late as 2020 women in Scotland were lodging claims against Unison, Unite and the GMB.