Disabled Workers' Conference
Please note that this conference is not open to members of the general 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. This will only be used by TUC staff during conference, for conference business, and will be deleted immediately following the end of conference.
Key dates for delegates
If your union has nominated you to be a delegate at the 2026 TUC Disabled Workers’ Conference, here is what you can expect from the TUC:
- 5 February 2026: Deadline for your nomination
- w/c 16 February 2026: The TUC will email you a link to register. If you do not receive this, please email your union for further information.
- 20 March 2026: Your deadline to submit 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 11 May 2026: You will receive a link to the final conference documents, including the agenda, nominees to the Disabled Workers’ 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.
The TUC prioritises safety of all guests at our events. Visitor tickets are not transferrable and will be issued to named visitors only who will need to provide their name and address information. You will need to bring ID that matches your visitor pass information.
Visitors will be asked to submit their individual registration by 4pm on 20 March.
Any attendees not registered to attend in advance will be denied entry.
Accessibility
The TUC is keen to ensure that we provide equal access for all delegates, especially disabled delegates.
Please inform us if you have access requirements by 4pm on 20 March 2026. Please include this information when completing your registration.
Please note that your union is responsible for providing hard copies of all documents. If you require documents in a specific format, please include this in your reasonable adjustments so we can pass this on to your union.
The TUC will meet all access needs where reasonably practicable and if notified by the deadline.
Childcare facilities
The TUC is committed to ensuring that no delegate is prevented from playing a full part in Congress because of childcare.
Please notify delegates that crèche facilities will be provided for those with children under 5 (not yet school age) during conference hours, free of charge, provided the TUC receives requests for more than 5 children, by the closing date for delegate registration, 20 March 2026.
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 into the conference hall 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 Disabled Workers’ 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
TUC Contacts
If you have questions or queries in relation to any aspect of the 2026 TUC Disabled Workers’ Conference, please email: equalities@tuc.org.uk.
Key dates
The TUC Disabled Workers’ Conference will take place on Tuesday 19 May to Wednesday 20 May 2026 in the Bournemouth International Centre.
- Motions and nominations to committee must be received by 4pm on 5 February 2026.
- Unions must submit the names of conference delegates and visitors by 4pm on 5 February 2026.
- Amendments to motions must be received by 4pm on 26 March 2026.
- Delegates must complete their individual registrations by 4pm on 20 March 2026.
- Fringe and delegation meeting requests must be received by 4pm on 20 April 2025.
- Emergency Motions must be received by 4pm on 14 May.
Conference Forms
- Motions: https://forms.office.com/e/j1Hptd8WyE
- Nominations: https://forms.office.com/e/CPYatDywV8
- Delegate registration: https://forms.office.com/e/ieBgNLFPrz
- Visitor registration: https://forms.office.com/e/dR9xNdJZD4
- Fringe and Delegation meeting requests: https://forms.office.com/e/4z8PdxJXFE
- Amendments: https://forms.office.com/e/zmH10ncWy3
Individual registration forms will be sent directly to attendees after 16 February 2026.
Conference sessions times
Conference sessions will be as follows:
Tuesday 19 May 10:00 am to 18:00pm
Wednesday 20 May 9.30am to 17.30pm
Motions and amendments
Download the guide to writing motions
Motions
Please use this form to submit motions by 4pm on 5 February 2026.
Unions can submit one motion of no more than 200 words each. Motions exceeding 200 words will be ruled out of order. Unions should also make sure the content of motions directly relates to disabled members and the issues they face and make the relevance to disabled members explicit in the wording.
Please note that each motion should cover one subject only. Any motion covering more than one subject may be ruled out of order.
Motions must be approved by the General Secretary.
Composite motions
The Disabled Workers’ 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.
The form will be open after the Preliminary Agenda has been shared with unions.
Amendments must be submitted by 26 March 2026 no later than 4pm.
Speaking times
The time limit is six minutes for the mover of the motion, and four minutes for any subsequent speaker as a reasonable adjustment.
Emergency motions
Emergency motions, of a maximum of 200 words, must deal with issues that have arisen since the closing date for ordinary motions and amendments. They must be received by the TUC office at equalities@tuc.org.uk and titled EMERGENCY MOTION, by 4pm on 14 May 2026 by email as a signed PDF and a Word version.
Emergency motions must be approved by the union General Secretary.
Delegations and registration arrangements
Delegate Registration
Unions must submit the names of conference delegates by 4pm on 5 February 2026 using this form and must include any access and/or childcare requests.
Any attendees not registered to attend in advance will be denied entry.
Conference delegates should be disabled.
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 attend conference. Delegates will be asked to submit their individual registrations by 20 March 2026.
Visitors’ tickets and documentation
Please use this form to submit your visitor names including any access requests. Unions must submit visitor names by 4pm on 5 February 2026. The cost per visitor is £15 inclusive of VAT.
Visitors will be asked to submit their individual registrations by 20 March.
Visitors’ tickets (maximum 10 per union) will be issued via affiliated unions before conference. The TUC prioritises safety of all guests at our events. Visitor tickets are not transferrable and will be issued to named visitors only who will need to provide their name and address information.
Any attendees not registered to attend in advance will be denied entry.
Nominations to committee
Please see the attached guide to writing nomination statements.
Please use this form to submit your union’s nominations to the Disabled Workers’ Committee by 4pm on 5 February 2026. Nominees must be registered as delegates by this date.
The Disabled Workers Committee consists of members of the General Council together with eighteen representatives nominated by affiliated unions: fourteen elected places (known as section A General Seats), one for the seat set aside for a Black member (known as section B), one for the seat set aside for a LGBT+ member (known as Section C), one for the seat set aside for a woman member (known as Section D), and one for the seat set aside for a young member (known as Section E).
You are therefore invited to nominate up to five members from your union, who must be delegates to the 2026 Disabled Workers Conference, to serve on the Disabled Workers Committee for the year 2026/2027.
The nominee (not the nominating union) is asked to provide a supporting statement on the nominating form, for circulation to delegates before conference. The statement should contain biographical information 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 20 April 2026. Unions will have to cover the cost of rooms and refreshments.
Unions will need to liaise directly with the conference venue to arrange refreshments.
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 2026 TUC Disabled Workers’ Conference, please email: equalities@tuc.org.uk.