COVID-19 public inquiry

What is happening

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on workplaces, but also on lives and livelihoods of so many who were on the frontline throughout.

The UK COVID-19 Inquiry is an independent public inquiry set up to examine the UK’s response to and the impact of the pandemic, including what lessons can be learned from the pandemic.

It was launched in June 2022 with the first public hearing taking place in June 2023. The inquiry’s investigation is organised into modules, with each one focussing on a different part of pandemic. The final module had its public hearings in early 2026. 

What UNISON is doing

The guiding principle for UNISON’s involvement with the inquiry is to make sure that our members’ voices are heard. If lessons are truly going to be learned and the right people held to account, the lived experiences of workers, both frontline and otherwise, throughout the pandemic must be central to the inquiry.

To achieve the greatest impact for our members, we are working with the Trades Union Congress (TUC), which acts as the ‘core participant’ for its affiliated unions to engage with the inquiry. This provides opportunities to make opening and closing statements, suggest witnesses, question them, and examine evidence.

We collected thousands of personal accounts from key workers across all of UNISON’s service groups, from social care to transport. They have covered issues including sick pay, PPE, workloads, the impact of the pandemic on workers’ mental health, and many more. They are powerful testimonies that bolster the power of UNISON’s and the TUC’s recommendations and wider campaigning on these issues.

UNISON has also provided three witnesses to the public hearings: Sara Gorton for Module 3 on health (from 45.45mins); Christina McAnea for Module 6 on social care (from 59.25 mins); and Mike Short for Module 10 on the social impact of the pandemic (full video).

Key workers and the inquiry

The final module of the COVID-19 Inquiry focused on key workers with its public hearings in early 2026. This module was extremely important for UNISON and the wider trade union movement as it examined the pandemic’s impact on society, including a strong focus on ‘key workers’ (excluding health and social care workers, who have had their own independent modules). For UNISON, a ‘key worker’ is anyone who kept public services and society functioning.