TUC black workers conference examines union membership and New Deal

The annual black workers conference of the UK's Trades Union Congress, held in April 1998, sought to promote the recruitment of black people and to tackle the issue of discrimination in the workplace.

TheTrades Union Congress (TUC) held its annual black workers conference at the City Hall, Cardiff on 24-26 April 1998, on the theme of Recruiting for race equality. Altogether, 250 delegates from most of the TUC's 75 affiliated trade unions, along with many observers, attended the conference. Each union is entitled to send one delegate to the conference for every 5,000 members, regardless of race or gender, with a maximum of 16 delegates per union. Each union is also entitled to submit two motions and every delegate is entitled to vote on all motions. The conference arrangements are the responsibility of the TUC Race Relations Committee (RRC), which consists of members of the general council and 18 representatives elected at the previous year's conference.

As well as dealing with motions, the conference receives the annual report of the RRC on its work over the past year. The report submitted to the 1998 conference explained the role of the Committee in promoting equal opportunities in both race and gender issues, at home and in Europe, including holding a conference in January 1998. A negotiators' guide for promoting racial equality was also launched in January and, as part of the TUC's recruitment campaign, the need to recruit black workers into unions and "empower" them to challenge discrimination had been stressed.

The conference also saw the launch of a new report on black trade unionists and a briefing document on the Government's "New Deal" and its effects on black young unemployed workers.

The Black trade unionists today report provides an up-to-date analysis of black trade unionists in the labour market, showing that black workers are just as likely to be union members as other employees. The report's findings include the following:

• nearly 300,000 black workers are members of a trade union or staff association (a density of 28%);

• Afro-Caribbean workers are much more likely to be in a trade union (36%) than anyone else, including white employees (30%), while Pakistani and Bangladeshi workers are least likely to be union members (16%);

• black women are more likely to be union members (29%) than female employees in general (28%) - possibly because, proportionately, more black female employees are likely to be in full-time jobs;

• black male employees are less likely to be in a union (27%) than male employees in general (32%). They are also less likely to be in a union than black female employees, which differs from the general trend on gender and union membership;

• older black workers are much more likely to be union members than other older workers - 48% of those aged 50-59, compared with 38% of all employees in this age group.

• younger black workers are less likely to be members than other younger workers - only 17% of those aged 20-29, compared with 21% of all employees in this age group; and

• the most highly unionised jobs for both black and all employees are professional and associate professional occupations. While there are proportionately more black union members in managerial occupations (24% as opposed to 20% for all employees), in craft and related occupations only 24% of black employees are in a union, compared with 34% of all employees.

At the conference, it was argued that black trade unionists have played a key role in getting unions and employers to address the issues of discrimination. It was therefore felt that a fair union recognition framework was a means of allowing employees to be represented in the workplace and an effective way of reducing employment discrimination.

The briefing document, The new deal in black and white, focuses on the implications of the New Deal programme to get young unemployed people into employment (UK9707143F). The problem of unemployment among black people was highlighted by a 1997 TUC report Pride not prejudice, which underlined that the unemployment rate for black workers is much higher than for white workers and that this position had worsened since the mid-1980s. The new document states that there were persistent problems with racism in Youth Training, the previous main active labour market policy for young people, and that there are important lessons to be learned if this is not to be replicated in the New Deal programmes. The TUC thus recommends that unions incorporate an equal rights perspective into their work on the New Deal, and supports recommendations on the New Deal drawn up by the Commission for Racial Equality. These recommendations support:

• consultation with, and involvement of, black and ethnic minority voluntary organisations, businesses and community groups;

• ethnic monitoring at key stages of the New Deal;

• targets for representation of ethnic minority young people in each New Deal option;

• inclusion of clients' rights to equal opportunities and fair treatment in agreements with employers and contracts with organisations providing elements of the New Deal;

• incorporation of equal opportunities in the sanctions regime to avoid a heavier application of benefit penalties to black young people; and

• measures to ensure that staff responsible for assessment, advice and provision are aware of their responsibilities to avoid discrimination.

The TUC also argues that racism in the New Deal is even more likely to be minimised if black and ethnic minority staff are employed as New Deal advisors and managers.