Black Workers’ Conference

Please note that this conference is not open to members of the public. All delegates to this conference must be nominated members of one of the TUC’s affiliated unions.

If you are interested in attending this event, please contact your union to request more information.

Information for your union’s delegates, visitors, and conference observers

Delegation leads

If you are the delegation lead then please make sure we have your mobile phone number, we will use this to contact you if needed. 

Key dates for delegates

If your union has nominated you to be a delegate at the 2024 TUC Black Workers’ Conference, here is what you can expect from the TUC:

19 January 2024: Your union should have submitted your name to the TUC by this date.
w/c 18 March 2024: The TUC will email you a link to register. If you do not receive this, please email your union contact to ensure that you have been nominated to be a delegate
28 March 2024: This is the deadline for you to complete your individual registration. Please note that this is a two-stage process. You will be sent a monitoring form first, at the end of which is a link to the final registration form.
w/c 8 April 2024: The TUC will email all attendees with a link to the final conference documents, including the agenda, nominees to the Race Relations Committee and the conference guide

If you have any queries about the conference, please email your union contact in the first instance. The TUC provides all the essential information to unions, who are then responsible for keeping delegates informed.

Visitors

Visitors' tickets (maximum 10 per union) will be issued via affiliated unions before conference.  Because of the need for extra security at all TUC conferences, names, and address of those wanting visitor tickets must be supplied and those tickets are not transferable.

Visitors will be asked to submit their individual registration by Thursday 28 March no later than 12.30pm.

Equal access  

The TUC is keen to ensure that we provide equal access for all delegates, especially disabled delegates. Please tell the TUC of any access requirements by Thursday 28 March 2024 no later than 12.30pm. We need early notice of any delegates or visitors requiring documents in accessible formats, such as large print or Braille.

The TUC will meet all access needs where reasonably practicable and if notified in time.   British Sign Language interpretation will only be provided at conference when a union has indicated by the deadline that one of its delegates and/or visitors requires it.

Childcare facilities   

The TUC is committed to ensuring that no delegate is prevented from playing a full part in our conferences because of childcare responsibilities.  Your unions should notify delegates with children below school age that crèche facilities will be provided for these children during conference hours, free of charge, provided notice is given of this by the closing date for delegate registration by Thursday 28 March 2024.    

The TUC provides a creche if we have over 5 children requiring this service; we make other arrangements with the parent if there are fewer than 5 children requiring the service.  Please note that unions may be liable for the cost of any ‘no-shows’ or late cancellations.   

Out of hours childcare arrangements, to allow delegates with childcare responsibilities to attend fringe events can also be arranged up to 8pm,

Delegates that are breast feeding are welcome to bring their children with them.

Monitoring   

In line with the TUC commitment to equality, delegations will be asked to complete an online equality monitoring form as part of their individual registrations.

Scrutineers and tellers  

We need a small number of scrutineers to count the ballots for the Women’s Committee and the motion to Congress.  The TUC will approach the delegation leaders for volunteers from amongst their delegates.

Information for union officers and staff

Key dates

TUC Black Workers’ Conference 2024 will be held at Congress House, Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3LS from Friday 26 April until Sunday 28 April 2024.

• Motions and nominations must be received by Friday 19 January 2024 no later than 12.30pm
• Unions must submit the names of conference delegates by Friday 19 January 2024 no later than 12.30pm
• Amendments to motions must be received by Friday 8 March 2024 no later than 12.30pm
• Delegates must complete their individual registrations by Thursday 28 March 2024
• Fringe and delegation meeting requests must be received by Friday 29 March 2024
• Emergency Motions must be received by Tuesday 23 April 2024 no later than 12.30pm

Conference forms

Motions: https://forms.office.com/e/387aUJErcF
Nominations: https://forms.office.com/e/iuY5Ayun3E
Delegate registration: https://forms.office.com/e/dZKbpuRnru
Visitor registration: https://forms.office.com/e/UEXejLKWwg
Fringe and Delegation meeting requests: https://forms.office.com/e/Vnnx6sLamL
Amendments (open from 5 February): https://forms.office.com/e/tua8tgtwyi

Conference sessions times

Conference sessions will be as follows:

Friday 26 April 2pm – 5.30pm

Saturday 27 April 9.30am - 5.30pm

Sunday 28 April 9.30am – 3pm

Motions, amendments, and emergency motions

Download the guide to writing motions

Motions

Please use this form to submit motions by Friday 19 January 2024 no later than 12.30pm.

Unions can submit one motion of no more than 200 words each. Any longer motion will be ruled out of order. Please note that the motion should cover one subject only. If the motion covers more than one subject it may be ruled out of order.  Motions must be approved by the General Secretary.

Composite motions

The Race Relations Committee will consult unions about compositing motions where appropriate.

Amendments

Please use this form for submitting your union’s amendments

Unions can submit one amendment of not more than 60 words.

Amendments must be submitted by Friday 8 March 2024 no later than 12.30pm

Speaking times

The time limit for moving and speaking to motions is five minutes for the mover of the motion, and three minutes for any subsequent speaker.

Emergency motions

Emergency motions, of a maximum of 200 words, must deal with issues that have arisen since the closing date for ordinary motions. In other words, they must be a genuine emergency. They must be received by the TUC office at equalities@tuc.org.uk and titled EMERGENCY MOTION, not later 12.30pm on Tuesday 23 April 2024 by email as a signed PDF and a Word version.

Emergency motions must be signed by the union General Secretary.

Delegations and registration arrangements  

Delegate Registration

Unions must submit the names of conference delegates by Friday 19 January 2024 no later than 12.30pm using this form and must include any access and/or childcare requests. We are keen that the conference gives voice to groups of workers that under- represented in our movement and our structure therefore encourage unions to register their black* members as delegates. Of course, allies are welcome, and we encourage unions to register allies as observers and visitors.

All affiliated unions are entitled to be represented by a minimum of two delegates, providing that the organisation has paid the fee prescribed in Rule 3 of the Rules and Standing Orders. For affiliates with 10,000 or more members, the following entitlements also apply: 

Organisations with between 10,000 and 20,000 members: up to 5 delegates.
Organisations with between 20,001 and 50,000 members: up to 10 delegates.
Organisations with between 50,001 and 100,000 members: up to 15 delegates.
Organisations with between 100,001 and 500,000 members: up to 20 delegates.
Organisations with between 500,001 and 1,000,000 members: up to 25 delegates.
Organisations with over 1,000,001 members: up to 30 delegates.

The General Council are especially keen to encourage delegations from those unions who do not usually go to conference. Delegates will be asked to submit their individual registrations by Thursday 28 March 2024.

Visitors’ tickets and documentation

Please use this form to submit your visitor names including any access and/or childcare requests by Friday 19 January 2024 no later than 12.30pm.

Visitors will be asked to submit their individual registrations by 28 March.

Visitors’ tickets (maximum 10 per union) will be issued via affiliated unions before conference. Because of the need for extra security at all TUC conferences, names and addresses of those wanting visitor tickets must be supplied and tickets are not transferable.

*The TUC uses the term ‘Black workers’ to indicate people of colour with a shared history. ‘Black’ is used in a broad political and inclusive sense to describe people in the UK who have suffered colonialism and enslavement in the past and continue to experience racism and diminished opportunities.

Nominations

Please use this form to submit your union’s nominations to the Race Relations Committee no later than 12.30pm on Friday 19 January 2024. Nominees must be registered as delegates by this date.

The Race Relations Committee is elected at the conference. The elected component of the Race Relations Committee consists of 20 representatives nominated by affiliated unions. Of these twenty seats, four are set aside for Black women, one for a disabled member and one for a LGBT+ member.

You are therefore invited to nominate up to four members from your union, who must be delegates to the 2024 Black Workers Conference, to serve on the Race Relations Committee for the year 2024/2025. One for the fourteen elected places (known as Section A), one for the four seats set aside for Black women (known as Section B), one for the seat set aside for a disabled member (known as Section C) and one for the seat set aside for a LGBT+ member (known as Section D).

Where more than fourteen nominations are received for Section A, more than four nominations for Section B, or more than one nomination for Section C or D, a ballot will be held at the Conference. Unions are encouraged to nominate women to both Sections A and B.

Nominees (not the nominating union) should provide a supporting statement on the nominating form, for circulation to delegates before conference. The statement should contain biographical details and relevant details of work carried out in the trade union movement but should not be in any way an election address. The General Secretary of the relevant union should endorse the statement, which must be no more than 150 words.

Fringes and delegation meetings  

If you would like to book a fringe or a delegation meeting room, please use this form. The form must be received by Friday 29 March. The room will be provided at no cost to unions, but the cost of refreshments will not be covered by the TUC. Unions will need to liaise directly with the conference venue to arrange refreshments.  

Please note: If your union is running a fringe event, it is your responsibility to provide reasonable adjustments to attendees.

Monitoring   

In line with the TUC commitment to equality, delegations will be asked to complete an online equality monitoring form as part of their individual registrations.  

Scrutineers and tellers  

We need a small number of scrutineers to count the ballots for the Race Relations Committee and the motion to Congress.   The TUC will approach delegation leaders for nominations from amongst their delegates.

TUC Contacts

If you have questions or queries in relation to any aspect of the 2024 TUC Black Workers’ Conference, please email: equalities@tuc.org.uk.