Accelerating the action of women in the Trade Union movement

The Gender Pay Gap? Still hanging around 

It’s 2025, and we’re still waiting for proper action to close the gender pay gap. Women in Wales are still earning less than men in comparable jobs – and if you’re a Black, Asian or ethnic minority woman, a Disabled woman, or an older woman? The gap’s even wider.

TUC analysis shows the gender pay gap sits at 13.1%, which means the average woman works nearly seven weeks for free every year compared to the average man. That’s before we count how undervalued our work is or the difference between sectors.

This year’s International Women’s Day theme is Accelerate Action for Gender Equality – whilst pay is the obvious place to start, to really tackle poverty and inequality.  We’ve got to look beyond wages alone. 

Locked out of work but into low pay

Affordable, flexible childcare is still out of reach for far too many families. Without it, women are pushed out of the workforce, stuck in low-paid, part-time jobs, or forced to cut their hours just to make life work.

And that’s before you factor in insecure contracts, sexual harassment, discrimination, and the daily grind of feeling like your voice doesn’t count at work. No wonder women are being held back.

If you really want to see how broken the system is, look at social care. It’s mainly women workers– especially Black, Asian and ethnic minority women – keeping our care system going. Long hours, low pay, insecure work... all while private companies rake in profits from a service that should be focused on people, not shareholders.

We don’t have to accept this

We know what needs to happen. We need a big, bold wave of insourcing – bringing social care back into public hands. Paying care workers properly. Bargaining for secure contracts and the respect they deserve.

And while we’re at it, let’s fix the wider problem of insecure work that traps so many women in low pay. Just look at teaching assistants – absolutely vital to our schools but often treated as an afterthought, with dodgy agency contracts and barely any protections.

Black women, in particular, are nearly three times more likely to be stuck on precarious contracts than white men. That’s why we’re calling to end zero-hours contracts, raise the minimum wage to £15 an hour, and reverse cuts to public sector pay.

These aren’t pipe dreams – they’re the foundations of a fairer Wales.

Change Is happening – led by us

The good news? Change is already underway. With the upcoming Employment Rights Bill, we’ve got a real chance to lock in improvements over the next four years.

And in the meantime, women in Wales are leading the charge. Through TUC Cymru’s activist development programmes and the Wales Union Learning Fund, women are learning new skills, building confidence, and standing up for better conditions. They’re making workplaces happier, healthier, and fairer – and transforming our movement in the process.

It’s about safety too

Workplace safety isn’t just about accidents and equipment – it’s about protecting women from sexual harassment, too. And let’s be honest, it’s still far too common.

Repeatedly, women feel they have to stay silent because they don’t trust their bosses to act. That’s why TUC Cymru is pushing hard to make sure employers take proper steps to prevent and tackle harassment, not just sweep it under the carpet.

We know strong unions are key to safer workplaces. So we’re building that power, giving every worker a voice, and holding employers to account.

Eyes open for the road ahead

There are threats ahead – from parties like Reform, hoping to stir division in our communities. But their anti-worker, anti-equality nonsense has no place here. We won’t let anyone turn us against each other or roll back the rights we’ve fought for.

So what’s next?

This International Women’s Day, let’s do what we do best: 
Get organised. Stand together. Keep building a fairer Wales – one with equality at its heart, powered by workers and rooted in solidarity.

And as we look ahead to the 2026 Senedd election, women in Wales will rightly expect real commitments to improve their working lives and living standards.

Finally, to the women who keep this movement going – who organise, negotiate, and fight for all of our rights – we see you. We thank you. And we know we’re not done yet.  With your strength and determination, we bargain for a better future.