Unison, Aslef, Usdaw and the Musicians’ Union will not be attending this year’s event
BY ELLA GAUCI, IMAGE BY JUAN MOYANO
Several major Labour unions will not be attending the party’s women’s conference this year due to the exclusion of trans women, Metro reports. Among these are Unison, Aslef, Usdaw, and the Musicians’ Union, all of whom are boycotting the event in September.
Last year, Labour cancelled its women’s conference after the Supreme Court ruling that stated the term “woman” in the Equality Act refers only to a biological woman. The conference’s decision was to wait for guidance and legal advice. Last December, it was announced that trans women would not be able to take part in the conference’s formal proceedings, such as voting, but could attend fringe events that were open to everyone regardless of sex.
Unison, the largest trade union in the UK, has confirmed it will not be attending the women’s conference this year. As reported by Metro, a spokesperson reported, “‘The union’s decided against sending a delegation to Labour women’s conference this year. This is because the party’s restrictions on access run counter to UNISON’s policy on trans equality.”
The Musicians’ Union, which has over 36,000 members, will also not be present at the conference. A spokesperson told Metro that the union has a “long-standing position of trans inclusion”.
LGBTQIA+ groups have called out the decision not to include trans women at this year’s conference. Alexandra Parmar-Yee, director of Trans+ Solidarity Alliance (TSA), said, “Clearly there’s no real justification for banning trans women from a conference; this is just one example of a broken legal framework for trans equality.”
TSA also reportedly stated that it was “really sad to see community and democratic spaces that have proudly included trans people for years feel forced to make decisions like this and betray their own values.”
Following the Supreme Court Ruling earlier this year, an updated Code of Practice on services, public functions and associations from the Equality and Human Rights Commission will take effect on 5 August. This is guidance for organisations, not the law itself. The Code has been criticised by LGBTQIA+ organisations and businesses for being “unworkable”.
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