One Workplace Equal Rights

Promoting Equality: Trade Unions

Union representatives play a central and unique role in promoting equality because of the trust and confidence attached to the position. They are the first point of contact when members want to make a complaint or sometimes just to talk something over that is worrying them at work. It is important that reps are seen to support their members in discrimination complaints.

Unions have a key role to play in:

• Making the union accessible for everyone via pro-active recruitment of diverse members and by providing services for all members.
• Monitoring what goes on in the workplace and ensuring fair practices in employment and promotion.
• Involving members and ensuring that the union provides equal opportunity to everyone to be active within its different structures and activities.
• Workplace Bargaining: Negotiating and enforcing agreements with employers that promote equal treatment for all workers. This can be achieved via policy/practice development, or learning programme initiatives in partnership with employers.
• Having access to specialised legal and personal advice on dealing with discrimination in the same way as they have access to financial or health and safety information.
• Being fully trained in equality of opportunity and treatment.
• Ensuring that equality is at the core of activities and functions and not left as a specialist activity (see mainstreaming).