Unions have to step up their campaign for equality, delegates at Unison’s annual conference in Bournemouth heard last week.
Gloria Mills, president of the TUC, said there was still a long way to go before there was complete equality in the workplace.
“Unison has stood up and been counted,” she said. “But we all have to campaign for our rights – it doesn’t happen overnight. It’s vital we continue to lead for change in the trade union movement otherwise we won’t see the progress we have made so far.”
Mills, the first black president of the TUC said she didn’t want the fact that she was black to be a significant issue. It was measure of how far there is to go that being the black president of TUC is still seen as breaking news, she said.
Employers had to do more to promote flexible working, according to Mills.
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“We’re all under pressure to do more for less, with less job security. Employers expect workers to bend over backwards to deal with extra demand yet they don’t return us any job flexibility. It’s all about bending one way,” she said.
