UNISON commits to defending trans rights and trans workers

Delegates at UNISON's local government conference passed a landmark motion titled 'defending trans, non-binary and gender diverse rights in local government workplaces', with passionate speeches drawing repeated applause from the conference floor and not a single vote cast against the motion.

The debate came amid growing concern over the impact of recent Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) guidanceand what many delegates described as a broader political attack on trans rights and equality protections.

Speakers warned that if the EHRC's proposals become embedded in law, the consequences for trans and gender diverse workers across local government could be profound. "If this guidance is allowed to harden into law, the consequences for our members will be severe," delegates heard.

The impact of the draft guidance is already being felt by trans workers. 

"We're already seeing issues on whether trans people can safely access facilities they've been using for years, without any issue," one speaker said. "It means having to out yourself every time you need to use the loo. It means fear. Work is already difficult enough. Like us, they face high workloads, poor pay and stress. But now they're being politically targeted in the workplace."

The conference heard repeated arguments that the debate extends far beyond questions of facilities and access.

"These attacks are never really about toilets, are they?" said one speaker. "They are about policing bodies. They're about rolling back equality rights."

Delegates warned that any weakening of protections for trans people would ultimately threaten rights for wider groups of workers. 

Several speakers delivered fierce criticisms of the EHRC guidance itself, describing it as an unprecedented rollback of rights. One delegate characterised the proposals as "institutionalised transphobia across public institutions", highlighting that they would exclude trans women from spaces and services available to others, while legitimising intrusive questioning about a person's sex. 

"We are more than our bodies. Cis women aren't defined by their wombs any more than anybody else, or by their ability to give birth."

The speaker argued that the issue formed part of a wider assault on equality protections. "This attack isn't really an attack on our sexual identity. It's part of a wider war. It's an attack on all our equalities. As a cis woman, my rights aren't undermined by my trans colleagues. They're undermined by the politicians who closed down the nurseries, by the bosses who maintain the gender pay gap, and by the far-right bigots who try to divide us."

The debate concluded with a call for employers to move beyond minimum legal compliance and actively defend trans, non-binary and gender diverse workers.

"Trans people should not have to fight for their right to exist peacefully when they clock in," conference heard.

The policy was carried unanimously, with no delegates voting against it.

Opposing the EHRC guidance: we need your voice