Wondering how to make a complaint about the "equalities officer" for UNITE in Brighton...

[BjornTheFellHanded]

https://www.reddit.com/r/transgenderUK/comments/1gecsvp/how_can_trade_unions_help_trans_people_in_the_uk/

"How can trade unions help trans people in the uk?

Hey! I’m the equalities officer for my branch of UNITE the union in Brighton. I want to ask the trans community what we can do as a union to help trans people more.
• We’ve had a presence at trans pride both in the parade and also with a stall to give out materials about trans rights at work.
• I’m currently writing a letter to Wes Streeting challenging the puberty blockers ban and the awful state of trans healthcare.
• We’ve worked with other local groups such as Trans Liberation Front (TLF) to mobilise an effective counter protest to Posie Parker and other transphobic events in our city.
• I’m passing a motion to donate £200 to Trans Kids Deserve Better following their recent protests outside of the DfE and the LGB Alliance conference.
• We ran a successful event for IDAHOBIT where I gave a speech about the need to challenge the rise of the far right and anti LGBTQ+ rhetoric.
Any suggestions or advice on what more we can do would be really appreciated! 🏳️‍⚧️🚩
"

Just to be clear this means that UNITE are paying for crimes, paying to shut down debate and not allowing differing points of view, not what an equalities officer should be doing.

“I don’t think UNITE will find any issues with someone that wants to table a branch motion at the next branch meeting to donate some money to a group that matches UNITEs aims. If it passes than that’s the will of the branch members.”

I do reckon the union will find it concerning that an equalities officer feels compelled to continue the chilling effect by announcing they are going to be ‘replying’ to the very people who seem to not be welcome to have opinions that differ from the equalities officers of Unite union.

Gosh…. Imagine that eh?

I wonder if these unions understand how deep some people’s misogyny runs. Certainly it would be a significant negative for an equalities officer to be publicly shining a light on their misogynistic tendencies… but hey…perhaps if a person vilifies women enough they no longer consider them human. And what a great characteristic for any equalities officer to have? Dehumanising women who disagree by proudly organising protests at a women’s rally is probably just the start.

Male power & privilege isn't it? Women daring to speak about overbearing men determined to remove safeguarding for girls and women? Can't let that go unchallenged.

They have no idea how regressive their attitudes to women & girls are. Imagine trashing women's right to have boundaries from men like this while thinking you're one of the good guys?

Imagine trashing women's right to have boundaries from men like this while thinking you're one of the good guys

An over inflated sense of self importance and intellectual ability seems to be a prerequisite for the Toms and Steves of this world. A need to look as though they are doing something worthy, without the hard work of truly organising for the benefit of all in a shitty workplace.

I always see these types of scolders as some kind of modern day Shakespearean Malvolio. Pompous yet dim, self absorbed, wearing yellow cross gaiters, and prone to believing everything they read.

Yep. And as of old, they seem to think because they are supposedly ‘left wing’, they are the progressive ones on the right side of history.

The totalitarianism and authoritarianism is glaringly obvious. But only if you haven’t been taught that you can treat people who disagree with you as not human or the dregs of humanity. Then it cannot be misogyny and it cannot be totalitarian etc, because those not human enough don’t count.

That horseshoe comes back around doesn’t it.

Either way… well done Tom and Steve! You certainly showed the world outside your little bubbles who you really are!

Speaking of unions… TUC want to hear our opinions on toilets!

x.com/the_tuc/status/1852259282592440728?s=46

FFS.

People are perfectly entitled to disagree with your views and protest against them if they wish to

Yet you are the one invading an online space for women and scolding them for not behaving in a way that you deem appropriate.
The irony.

I’ve not scolded anyone. I’ve merely commented on an internet forum that the person accused has probably not done anything wrong :)

Lol. Worried about your pal?
It's all with UNITE nationally now, so I'm sure they'll decide one way or the other without you.

A big part of the problem is that most who engage in such protests seem to have very little understanding of the position or the views at all. Everything is automatically designated as 'transphobic'.

I was at an event outside of the Labour party conference in Liverpool last year, which was being 'protested' by an unruly, shouty mob that included people wearing UNITE and UNISON lanyards. They were shouting things such as "Fascists go Home" and banging drums and yelling for three solid hours.

They did seem somewhat perplexed, though. Instead of 'fascists' and 'nazis' there were confronted with a crowd of everyday women, some with children in tow. It was clearly confusing for them. They hadn't a clue or it was clear that they had been totally misrepresenting/fudamentally misunderstanding the actual views that motivated these women, many of them actually ex Labour party and trade union members themselves

I’m sure they will I’ll be interested to hear the outcome

Translation: Man here and must get last word in to save face.

I think it shows just how fucked the union is if they don't think that someone showing misogynistic tendencies when they are supposedly an equalities office is a concern.

But, hey. I am sure that Tom thinks Tom is completely innocent and that either saying on social media that Tom is coming to Mumsnet to 'reply', whether Tom did or not, is not intimidating at all or that Tom is so righteous that it can only be said that it is 'correcting any misunderstanding' to do so. I mean, I am sure many of us remember the male barrister for the defendant coming onto the thread of the female plaintiff and thinking they were the 'righteous' ones.

Or, the union is completely oblivious to what professional behaviour looks like that they will support such intimidatory behaviour.

It's the determination to silence women that's so insidious. The refusal to acknowledge that wedging men into spaces where girls and women are undressed and vulnerable is dangerous to women. Some protesters use sexually abusive / aggressive language "suck my dick terf, punch a terf" and some misuse their power and status to label women speaking out about safeguarding children / women's rights as transphobic bigots. Tbh, it seems to come from the same deep seated misogynistic, contemptuous attitude to women that the Taliban have as they insist that women's voices must not be heard speaking.

Maybe @OllieT can clarify what the difference is between these union men's attitudes to women being allowed to speak freely and the Taliban?

@OllieT while you are here, do you support the Darlington nurses in their fight for single sex spaces? Where does women’s equality lie in the scale? Are women allowed to believe TW are not women? Do such women have to change with the TW they do not recognise as women? If so, why are their rights and concerns lesser to those of TW?

That 'probably' sure is doing some heavy lifting. Just saying.

I see from the newest comment on the originally linked thread that the UCU continues to lack understanding of equality too.

Here is Janice Turner shining the light on Steve’s words. Albeit not Tom’s, but still… the message is getting out there.

www.thetimes.com/article/7daa62a1-63a2-4e45-9097-1bd77457923f?shareToken=e7d4c2b5c4105c63a442b542e5a80a7b

Thank you for the share token.
Great article.

And I think this is very pertinent for any poster who thinks that there is no issue for any Equalities Officer involved in any action that could be seen as being intimidating to women.

“An official told me, with some exasperation, that North was “elected by a very small group of activists, whose views don’t reflect those of the wider membership”. No kidding. The Darlington nurses, like most members, loyally paid their subs but rarely attended meetings, let alone drafted motions or stood as conference delegates. It is activists, with the most extreme ideological agenda, who formulate policy.”

and

“A vicious, vengeful trans lobby, which dubs opponents bigots, has frightened many into silence. The Darlington nurses were always whispering in hospital kitchens with distressed colleagues too fearful to go public. But they are determined neither to resign from jobs they love, nor to back down.”

What do these male activist office holders think is going to happen when members start to get active and actually participate in meetings and the very least, start complaining? But hey, those male activists enjoy the opportunity to act in misogynistic ways so I guess they will find a new organisation to do that in if they lose access to the unions.

It’s the same old story - career ideologues take over, similar to the BMA. No-one wants to challenge them because the flying monkeys will be sent on the attack. It feels marginally more possible to defy the edicts, but only if you’re prepared to be denounced with all that follows.

https://x.com/anyabike/status/1852771257248317781?s=46

Here is some free advice from Anya.

“Some free advice for union members and for unions: any union that fails to represent members with gender critical beliefs, simply because hard core activists controlling the union are biased against those people, can be sued in the employment tribunal under s.57 Equality Act 2010”

Not sure that any Equalities Officer acting in any way to intimidate female people who might be union members will find their employers accepting of that behaviour with all the current court cases. But hey ho…

I contacted my Regional Legal Officer for Unite in May 2022 asking if Reps and FTOs had received any training on the Forstater judgement, drawing his attention to Section 57 of the Equality Act 2010.

His first response to me was a long-winded explanation of why, in his opinion, S57 did not apply to Trade Unions because they were not "trade organisations" 😵‍💫

So I sent him the Explanatory Notes, where the first example cited of a "trade organisation" is a trade union.

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/notes/division/3/5/1/19

Which prompted a much shorter reply:

"As to whether the union is planning any briefings or training on these matters, again I cannot comment as I am not privy to those discussions."

There was further correspondence, which ended with him saying:

^"If you wanted to, you could raise the issue with the General Secretary’s Hotline. (For details, please see https://www.unitetheunion.org/who-we-are/fighting-for-jobs-pay-and-conditions-unite-general-secretary-sharon-graham/unite-general-secretary-hotline/)"^

I must admit that I never got around to doing that but maybe you could try it, BjornTheFellHanded?