Trades Union Congress publishes latest equality audit results
In September 2007, the Trades Union Congress (TUC) published the results of its third biennial equality audit of its affiliated organisations. It is clear from the report that the TUC is counting on trade unions to make progress on equality issues. However, while the evidence of improvements is positive in some areas, in others it is less so, such as in relation to trade unions’ equality record as employers and problems experienced in recruiting specialist workplace equality representatives.
In September 2007, the Trades Union Congress (TUC) published a report (375Kb PDF) outlining the results of its third biennial equality audit, which examined the action taken by its affiliated trade unions on equality issues.
Response rate
The response rate to the audit has improved since the first audit was published in 2003 and the interim audit in 2005 (UK0602102F). Some 55 of the TUC’s 63 affiliated organisations participated in the 2007 exercise, covering 99.7% of the TUC’s 6.5 million members. The report cautions against drawing too many conclusions from comparisons with the 2003 audit because, in 2007, a far wider range of trade unions responded, many of which are smaller with fewer resources to devote to equality issues. However, the comprehensive coverage of the 2007 audit means that the TUC can use its latest findings to benchmark future action taken by the trade unions on equality.
Key findings
The TUC equality audit covers seven main areas: rules on equality; membership and structure; the trade union as an employer; union services and training; campaigns and communications; equality successes; and the impact of the equality audit. Selected findings for the first two areas are shown in the table below, which compares the 2003 and 2007 findings.
| Proportion of trade unions with: | 2003 (%) | 2007 (%) |
|---|---|---|
| National rules on equality | 69 | 62 |
| Records on: | ||
| membership of black people | 50 | 42 |
| membership of disabled people | 34 | 35 |
| membership of women | 81 | 85 |
| lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual (LGBT) members | 6 | 11 |
| National equality officers | 66 | 56 |
| National committee for: | ||
| equality | 41 | 59 |
| women | 53 | 50 |
| black members | 63 | 62 |
| disabled members | 47 | 56 |
| LGBT members | 53 | 56 |
| Reserved seats on national executive committee for: | ||
| female members | 28 | 16 |
| black members | 25 | 20 |
| disabled members | 9 | 5 |
| LGBT members | 9 | 4 |
| National conference/seminar for: | ||
| female members | 50 | 33 |
| black members | 50 | 42 |
| disabled members | 41 | 27 |
| LGBT members | 44 | 35 |
Source: TUC Equality Audit, 2007
Membership and structure
It is clear that trade unions now have much more information about their membership, as reflected by the extensive data collected as part of the equality audit procedure and distinguished according to gender, race, disability, sexuality and age. A particularly striking finding is the fact that many more trade unions are now able to identify the demographic composition of workplace representatives and branch officials, potentially enabling them to develop plans to redress underrepresentation. In this case, trade unions are most likely to target women and black and ethnic minority members in recruitment campaigns for workplace representatives and branch officers. Moreover, unions are most likely to target women and migrant workers in membership recruitment campaigns. The report sees the relatively high activity surrounding migrant workers as testament to the trade unions’ ability to respond to the rapidly changing labour market.
Regarding equality structures, the table above shows that most trade unions now have an official appointed at national level whose main responsibility is equality, usually covering all of the various ‘strands’. A small number of the larger unions also have equality officers in place at regional, sectoral and/or workplace level. However, the TUC audit uncovered problems in recruiting specialist workplace equality representatives.
A significant number of larger trade unions now have national equality committees. In addition, the number of committees has increased for disabled and LGBT members, but not for black members or women. A new trend is that unions are now more likely to have reserved seats on their national executive committees for black members than for women. Several trade unions made comments about the positive impact of reserved seats in increasing participation of underrepresented groups and also in shaping and driving unions’ policies and priorities. Black members are now also more likely than women or other groups to benefit from targeted events and seminars.
Trade unions as employers
Trade unions’ equality record as employers is not altogether positive, leaving them vulnerable to claims that they do not ‘practice what they preach’. For example, only 62% of unions have an equal opportunities policy in place, compared with 73% of UK organisations overall, according to findings from the 2004 Workplace Employment Relations Survey (UK0607019I).
Services and training
With regard to the provision of services and training, the practice of directing publications, websites and trade union training opportunities at specific groups is fairly widespread. Nevertheless, only between one fifth and one third of unions took steps to encourage members from underrepresented groups to participate in trade union courses.
Campaigns and communications
Trade unions are making efforts to make campaigns and communications accessible to all people: for example, over half provide some information and publications in languages other than English; the majority of unions take action to ensure that materials indicate a diverse membership.
Equality successes
Examples of equality successes are restricted to internal affairs and structures and are indicative of the range of equality work that trade unions are engaged in. They include the following measures: a commitment by the Amicus section of the trade union Unite to report annually to its executive council on equality in the union; a move by the Communication Workers’ Union (CWU) to have five motion-based equality conferences covering race, gender, disability, sexuality and age; the establishment of a ‘Race and diversity’ project by the GMB general trade union to improve its ability to cater for diverse membership; and the production of a Charter for Women by the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT). The main impact of the TUC equality audit seems to be an overall increase in equality action – one in five participating trade unions have carried out their own equality audit since 2003 and a number of unions referred to major work being planned in this area.
Commentary
It seems that the TUC equality audits have had a positive impact overall, encouraging trade unions to step up actions on equality. However, the TUC needs to continue applying pressure on the trade unions to promote sustained efforts in all the equality strands. One potential issue is that, in some cases, action on a broader range of equality strands might have come at the expense of traditional points of focus, such as gender equality. This simply highlights the problems of working on equality issues within a context of resource constraints, but it is important that unions do not give the impression of creating a hierarchy in relation to those equality issues.
Gill Kirton, Queen Mary, University of London