Unions are winning greater equality at work

The TUC’s second biennial equality audit published today shows that people employed in workplaces with a trade union presence are likely to have a better work/life balance and face less discrimination at work than individuals in non-unionised workplaces.

The equality audit 2005 shows union success in, for example, negotiating agreements giving employees a greater flexibility regarding the number of hours they work, and improved maternity and paternity pay and leave. Unions are also working with employers to toughen up workplace procedures tackling racism, sexism, ageism and homophobia at work.

Two-thirds of the 67 TUC-affiliated unions who responded to the survey (67 per cent) reported achieving a greater work/life balance for employees. For example, USDAW has won an agreement that allows all permanent staff not just parents at Lever Faberge to apply to work flexibly.

A similar proportion had been able to negotiate maternity and paternity pay and leave above the statutory minimum. The T&G, for example, has won agreement to give employees at Ford, Visteon and Landrover 52 weeks’ maternity leave at full basic pay, and Peugeot now grants 52 weeks at 90 per cent of earnings for 40 weeks then 12 weeks at 200. New fathers who work for BT are entitled to two weeks on full pay plus 10 days unpaid paternity leave, thanks to an agreement reached with the CWU.

With women’s pay still lagging way behind men’s, the issue of equal pay is a burning issue for unions, with just over half the survey respondents (54 per cent) saying they had been successful in negotiating improvements. Encouraging employers to carry out equal pay audits is the area where unions are making the most progress. The T&G’s Pay Up! Campaign has seen KingsCourt raising the pay of their lowest paid women by 30 per cent and when a pay gap at BMW was identified, the employer acted to close it.

Winning improvements for ethnic minority employees and migrant workers had been achieved by half the unions responding to the survey. This includes a joint charter agreed by the civil service unions and the Cabinet Office to try to address the under-representation of ethnic minority staff at senior levels, and work to limit the influence of the far right, with the banning of British National Party members from the Prison Service, achieved by PCS and the POA.

Just under half (46 per cent) the unions had successfully negotiated a better deal at work for lesbian, gay, transgender and bisexual workers, for example Connect has been able to achieve parental leave rights for same-sex partners at BT.

Slightly more than half the survey respondents (52 per cent) won improvements for disabled employees, with many making progress on disability leave, a special form of leave that staff can take for rehabilitation, assessment or treatment purposes.

Commenting on the Equality Audit, TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said:

This survey proves that unions can and are making a difference to the lives of millions of working people by encouraging employers to tackle the issues that could otherwise be ignored. Unions are helping parents change their working hours so they can get to see more of their children and are doing all they can to stop the far right from intimidating people at work and in our communities.

But there is still much more to do. Just as union workplace, learning and safety reps get time off to concentrate on making work a fairer, better skilled and safer place to be, there’s a need for more equality reps to allow unions to fight discrimination and give more workers the chance of a better work/life balance. Giving equality reps, time off from their other jobs would help make this a reality.

The TUC Equality Audit 2005 also features a number of case studies to illustrate union achievements in winning greater equality for individuals at work:

The flexible working policy drawn up by Unifi (now part of Amicus) and the Newcastle Building Society is aimed at giving all staff the opportunity of a greater work/life balance, not just those with children or caring responsibilities. It gives staff the option of switching to a four day week, moving to part time working, term-time working and working from home. It also allows staff to work flexibly on a temporary basis to cover when a child starts school or an elderly relative goes in to hospital.

BECTU’s groundbreaking ’Move on Up’ programme aims to help ethnic minority professionals find work in the worlds of film and television. An event was organised at Congress House where almost 100 key industry executives with the power to hire staff and freelances, fund films and commission television programmes had over 500 one-to-one meetings with 230 people keen to move on up. Real jobs and commissions resulted from the session and the union was able to increase the number of ethnic minority professionals in its membership.