Unions are building a fairer Britain, pushing for unity over division

The TUC Equality Audit, published every two years, is an essential yardstick and benchmarking tool with which we can measure our collective efforts.  

This year’s equality audit focuses on what steps unions have taken in the last four years to promote equality in their membership, structures and processes, and to ensure they reflect the diversity of our membership. 

There can be no doubt that our efforts to build a fairer, more equal Britain are made more difficult by far-right politicians and their benefactors who seek to divide, exploit and isolate. That's why the action taken by unions to build robust structures, fit for the future, are vitally important. 

The period covered by this report has been monumental for the advancement of worker's rights. The Worker Protection Act came into effect in 2024, introducing a new duty on employers to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of their employees.  

The Employment Rights Act passed into law in December 2025. While it is too early for the impact to be felt in this audit, existing campaigns and organising can be expanded with stronger workplace protections and measures to support trade union access and recognition. There is reason to hope that this will contribute to further progress in union equalities work by the time of the next audit. 

What did we find? 

Unions offer spaces to build networks and communities, both formally and informally. 

Since 2022, there has been an increase in the number of unions holding national equality conferences and three more unions have a formal national body or committee for equality. Incredibly, 85% of union members are now in unions with equality reps. 

There was a notable increase in trade union training for equality groups, with a 6% rise in opportunities for women, 15% for Black members and disabled members, and 18% for LGBT+ members. Unions told us that offering online training and improving monitoring helped to increase participation. 

Equality work and wins 

We received positive examples of unions rolling out comprehensive training and delivering impactful campaigns to counter far-right sentiment. There are some excellent, repeatable examples within this report, with over half of the unions taking specific actions to recruit new members from various equalities groups. 40% of unions reported activity to recruit more Black workers into their membership. 

Remaining challenges 

While there has been some improvement in the data unions gather on different protected characteristics, there is still a long way to go. The most common way for unions to collect equalities data is during the sign-up process, but there have been new initiatives to enhance and simplify this, such as apps, monthly reporting and equality audits. 

Most unions now monitor gender across all rep roles, apart from equality reps. We must dial up our data capture on equality reps to make the most of the new rights coming into force later this year. Equality reps embed equality into workplace policies and culture and support members facing discrimination or harassment; it’s crucial that our reps on the ground are representative of our movement. 

Data on young members is more likely to be collected than other characteristics. However, the findings of this audit show that we need to scale up our recruitment and engagement of young workers specifically. Part of this will be communicating that unions have won new rights to curb precarious work, where young people, women and Black workers are disproportionately represented. 

Conclusion 

This audit shows that unions are a critical buffer against the rise of the far-right. Union-led training and organising builds networks, develops our shared skillset and brings fresh energy and hope to our movement and communities. 

Through the TUC's Unity Works campaign, we’ve been celebrating the rights trade unions have won, but also challenging our movement to unite around calls for strong public services, fair taxes and secure, decent work that pays. 

We hope these findings spark an idea, renew your enthusiasm and demonstrate that you are part of a powerful movement, fighting for unity, solidarity and equality.  

Daisy Goodall is the TUC Young Worker’s Lead.