TUC Cymru is delighted to launch our Memorandum of Understanding with Cymdeithas yr Iaith (the Welsh Language Society) on their stand at the Eisteddfod in Llŷn ac Eifionydd 2023 on 10th August 2023 at 2.30pm.

All visitors to the Eisteddfod interested in workers’ freedom and rights to use Welsh in the workplace are welcome to join us to launch our partnership agreement.

Directly after the launch of our MOU on the Cymdeithas yr Iaith stand we will welcome everyone to walk with us over to the Cymdeithasau 2 tent to join us for our panel discussion on Equality: Fair work, Welsh language rights in the workplace and Welsh communities.

The Context for our Memorandum of Understanding

The context for partnership can be summarised as follows:

1. We believe that the Welsh Language belongs to everyone in Wales and that protecting and promoting Welsh is a critical part of the identity and wellbeing of the people and communities of Wales.
2. We note that the Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011 created the legal framework for treating the Welsh language no less favourably than the English language, ensuring an official status for Welsh, the freedom to use Welsh and provision for some basic rights as well as establishing the role of the Welsh Language Commissioner.
3. The Welsh Government is committed to a strategy to reach a million Welsh speakers by 2050 including legislating on education, but there is a need to do more, including inclusive implementation with well-being targets.
4. In public surveys, it becomes clear that the majority of the people of Wales want to see the Welsh language prospering and see bilingual skills as advantageous and enriching people’s lives.
5. However, Wales TUC and Cymdeithas yr Iaith are concerned that the Welsh language faces critical challenges with social, economic and cultural factors – including those in the world of work – contributing to the decline in the number of Welsh speakers nationally and in Welsh communities. Additionally, the current legal framework does not ensure that the people of Wales can use the Welsh language in every part of their lives nor in every workplace, and there are regular examples of discrimination against Welsh.

In essence, the partnership focuses on supporting and promoting – with the aim of protecting - the future of the Welsh language as a living language in workplaces and communities throughout Wales and as part of the wider agenda for fair work, equality and social justice.

Together our partnership endorses Welsh in the workplace

The launch of this Memorandum of Understanding with Cymdeithas yr Iaith demonstrates and encapsules our shared principles and goals in terms of supporting and facilitating the use of Welsh in the workplace.

Wales TUC is the voice of Wales at work. Cymdeithas yr Iaith campaigns for the future of the Welsh language and communities of Wales.

• Together we seek to protect workers’ freedom and rights to use Welsh in the workplace as part of our goals for fair work, equality and social justice.
• We support and promote opportunities for workers who want to learn Welsh and upskill.
• And we want to see additional Welsh language rights introduced and implemented over time and Welsh being normalised in every workplace across Wales.

 Speakers

Siân Gale, Wales TUC President Elect, Chair of the Wales TUC Equalities Committee and Skills and Development Manager for Prospect (Bectu sector). Siân started her career in broadcasting and became a Union Representative in her twenties. She held the position of Chair of the South Wales Freelance branch of Bectu for many years. Since 2008 she has been working with the creative unions running a bilingual, all-Wales learning programme, CULT Cymru (Creative Unions Learning Together) mainly funded via the Wales Union Learning Fund. She is also a Non-Executive Board Member of Creative Wales. Siân is a long-standing member of the Wales TUC General Council where she continues to champion the cause of freelance and atypical workers. Siân is passionate about equality, diversity, the Welsh language and skills.

Robat Idris, President of Cymdeithas yr Iaith Robat is the Chair of The Welsh Language Society elected in the General Meeting in 2022. Over the years he has been, and still remains an active member of many movements and of community and national campaigns including Pobl Atal Wylfa B, Cymdeithas y Cymod, Undod and SAIL. Robat is passionate about creating a society that gives opportunities for everyone to have lives free from injustice, violence, poverty, war and environmental destruction, and in these times, there is more need than ever to realise these desires.

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