Public sector workers declare trans+ solidarity

Trans+ pride in 2021 (Pic: Guy Smallman)

Public sector workers in the Unison union have sent a clear message that they are committed to trans+ solidarity.  

Hundreds of workers at Unison’s National Delegate Conference voted for an emergency motion reasserting their support for trans+ rights on Wednesday.

It comes in the wake of the transphobic Supreme Court ruling that barred trans people from the single sex spaces that fit their gender identity. The legal change means that trans women may be prevented from using women’s toilets and women’s changing rooms. 

At the conference in Liverpool many speakers argued that the motion did not go far enough, and the union needed to respond more substantively.

The mover of the motion, from Somerset Local Government and Community, said that this “cautious approach has seemed to LGBT+ members as conceding to this regressive and unclear ruling, rather than directly challenging it.”  

Liz Wheatley, Camden Unison branch and UNISON National Executive Council (NEC), spoke in support of the motion.

“We do have an important role as a union, because the job of a union is to fight discrimination inside and outside the workplace, to stand with the oppressed and to fight for liberation,” she said.

She continued, “For years, Unison had some of the best LGBT+ policies, particularly on trans rights, but we were too cautious and too slow when the Supreme Court ruling came out.

“That was the time to stand up and shout out that we don’t just support existing trans+ rights, but we’re going to fight for more, like self-identification.”

“We don’t just safeguard our union, we safeguard our trans+ comrades. And if we really can influence the Labour government, now’s the time to do it.”

Nandi Msezane, a delegate from the East Sussex branch, made a rallying call for the membership to unite behind trans+ people.

“As LGBT+ people, we owe the many freedoms and lives to the trans sisters who in the face of violence chose to resist. They never looked away, shied away, or threw their comrades under the bus, when it felt politically expedient.

Nandi’s branch had submitted an emergency motion on trans+ rights that was ruled out of order because of “legal jeopardy.”

She told Socialist Worker that the move “was a silencing tactic by those within the union who have conveniently forgotten that power should lie with branches rather than with technocrats.

“Similar to the statement put out by our general secretary, Christina McAnea, after the Supreme Court attacked our trans siblings, the standing orders committee chose to put forward a motion that asks nothing of the union.

“It’s performative and pays lip service to the allyship,” she said Jenny Black, Unison NEC and UNISON’s national LGBT+ committee, told conference, “I feel our union has sold us down the river on this. You don’t need to agree with me, that’s fine, but I feel it.

She added, “We need to have a strong stance on this issue. It’s no good saying there’s legal jeopardy.

“Conference, our union needs to change its tact on this, it needs to change its approach. It needs to listen to his membership.”

Delegates unanimously voted to pass the motion. But the tone of the discussion on conference floor showed that workers want more than just an affirmation of solidarity.

They want concrete actions from their union and the people they pay to represent them within it.