Scottish Labour Women's Declaration retweetledi
Four trade unions just showed a million women exactly where they stand, and it isn't beside them.
In 1874, Emma Paterson founded the Women's Trade Union League because the unions of her day wouldn't organise women. Women built their own room. That room became Labour's Women's Conference.
Now #UNISON, #ASLEF, #USDAW and the Musicians' Union are boycotting it. Not Labour's main conference, just the one room built for women. They'll turn up in every other hall this September. Only the women's room gets the empty chairs.
This isn't the first time. When #Darlingtonnurses fought for the right to change in private, away from a male colleague, UNISON's own president accused the health secretary of "pandering to anti-trans bigotry" for meeting them. When the nurses won, UNISON's statement didn't mention them once.
The seats these unions are giving up were never theirs. They belong to the female cleaners, care workers and nurses whose subscriptions paid for them. A union that empties a woman's seat to make a point has forgotten who it works for.
UNISON alone gave Labour close to £1.5 million before the last election. Money like that buys a hearing. It seems it also buys silence, when the people asking to be heard are women.
Full story here: heartlandstribune.com/the-empty-dele…
Is your union representing you, or an ideological cliché?
#womensrightsmatter
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