TUC Women's Conference 2025
Motions on supporting journalists in Palestine, tackling misogyny, and women's health at work were passed at the year's conference.
The NUJ’s motion calling on solidarity to women journalists in Palestine was passed unanimously at TUC Women’s Conference. NUJ delegates also spoke on several motions, including the rise of the far right and tackling misogyny in workplaces: women’s health at work and confronting sexual harassment. Wider issues discussed included how to confront exploitative zero-hours contracts, as well as decriminalisation of the sex industry.
The NUJ delegation was Ann Galpin, Sara Lewis, and Mariam Elsayeh Ibrahim. They were also joined by NUJ Member of Honour, Anita Halpin who attended as an observer. Along with several other delegates, Anita received standing applause for her work over many years and for their contribution to the women’s movement. The NUJ delegation took time to remember with gratitude and fondness longtime NUJ stalwart Ann Coltart who had been an active attendee to the TUC Women’s Conference and had been a champion for the NUJ’s campaigns for equality.
Ann Coltart
© Elaine Livingstone
Mariam Elsayeh Ibrahim, from the NUJ and on the union's Ethics council moved the motion calling for solidarity to women journalists in Palestine. It noted “that according to the UN, around 70 per cent of people killed in Gaza are women and children. These women include journalists who play a crucial role in covering the war and bringing this information to the attention of the rest of the world.”
In an impassioned speech Mariam praised the support that trade unions here had shown those being attacked in Gaza.
She said:
"I am profoundly grateful to be part of a community united in support of marginalised voices."
She said solidarity from trade unions had provided activists with strength to stand against intimidation and extended:
"heartfelt thanks to everyone who made this possible, especially to the NUJ, who listened to every single message I received from Palestine, Gaza and the West Bank."
At the end of her speech delegates rose to give her a standing ovation, and from the conference floor Mariam was supported by Angela Grant of the PCS union who said that the world owed Palestinian journalists who have “put their lives on the line” for the truth. She went on, “we have to stand firm behind every person that is oppressed in every country, whoever that may be.”
The NUJ motion outlined the desperate conditions that journalists were working under in Gaza – particularly women journalists who, along with facing assaults on their freedom to report, were confronted with the most impossible living conditions and denied access to the basics of water, food and electricity with their homes and workplaces destroyed.
The motion called on “the TUC Women’s Committee to send a message of solidarity to women journalists, condemn the atrocities breaching international law in Gaza and Westbank and backed the International Federation of Journalist’s (IFJ’s) calls for an independent investigation into all killings and attacks on journalists.” It was passed unanimously.
The theme of this year’s conference was ‘Resist, Persist, Deliver,’ and it took place against a backdrop of much recent right-wing misogynist rhetoric. The TUC assistant general secretary Kate Bell highlighted the global challenges facing women and said, “It’s never been more important for women to be in a union, to stand up and tackle the far right and to win progress at work and in our communities, not just for women but for everyone who’s been let down by years of austerity politics and unchecked inequality.”
An emergency motion was put to conference calling on the TUC Women’s Committee to defend Diversity, Equality and Inclusion (DEI) programmes, as they benefit all workers, particularly women in the UK and around the world.
The NUJ’s Ann Galpin spoke about how US president Donald Trump axing of DEI programmes in the US will also see DEI related content being deleted from academic and medical journals published in the UK. “Trump’s recent executive order removing existing DEI content,” Ann said, “will also restrict new content. These risks erasing the voices and lives of the LGBT+ community, reinforcing inequalities, misinformation and bigotry.”
The emergency motion was passed, and a further composite motion was put that looked at how recent expressions of misogyny, sexism and the far-right rhetoric had come to dominate political discussion. Speaking in favour Ann Galpin expressed the NUJ’s concern about the way women were being represented and portrayed in the media.
She said:
“We have worked with organisations like Zero Tolerance and End Violence Against Women on reporting guidelines to support journalists to write accurately and ethically on issues such as violence against women, and rape, and sexual violence.
“It's also important that journalists play a role in shaping positive narratives and portrayals of women in day-to-day life. That means being aware of stereotypes and avoiding them and valuing the roles and contributions of diverse women in our communities.
“All NUJ members commit to our code of conduct. And the NUJ will always support members who resist writing stories or taking angles that they feel are unethical and breach our code.”
While the conference was taking place the TUC released new research which revealed that women are 34% more likely than men to be on exploitative zero-hours contracts. The TUC warned that women are bearing the brunt of exploitative zero-hours contracts which are “hindering progress towards gender equality.”
The TUC release included a quote from Paul Nowak, TUC general secretary, who said:
“Everyone deserves security at work. But exploitative working practices – like zero-hours contracts – are holding many people back.
“As ever, women workers are bearing the brunt. They are more likely to be concentrated in sectors with endemic levels of insecure work."
This was an issue addressed in composite motion three, ‘Strengthening employment rights for women,’ which the NUJ seconded. This was passed unanimously, and it referred to the difficulties that freelance workers face with wage disparity, and inadequate sick pay and maternity leave. It also noted that “government data collection on atypical working relationships such as freelancing is poor, creating lack of data on pay gaps and working conditions for freelancers.”
The motion demanded, “This conference calls on the Women’s TUC to work with the NUJ and other creative unions to lobby for:
i) more rights for freelances in the Employment Rights Bill and;
ii) better data collection on income and working patterns for people who are self-employed.
“By addressing these critical areas, we can create a fairer, more inclusive workplace that empowers women and benefits society. We urge the TUC to champion these essential changes.”
Several other important issues such as women’s health at work and tackling sexual harassment were addressed and the NUJ’s Sara Lewis, vice-chair of the Equality council, spoke to conference about this, and in the Gender PPE Gap (motion 42) she referred to the deadly consequences if PPE provision is not satisfactory.
She said:
“Women journalists working in war zones tell us in the NUJ that that they are forced to wear flak jackets which do not fit. Generally, flak jackets and other PPE are designed for cis Caucasian men, making them unfit for purpose for women and other groups that don’t fit...There are gaps which could allow stray bullets or shrapnel to enter.
“Although there are some on the market for women, they do not come in the highest protection level that you need for a war zone. This means that PPE provision for women journalists covering conflict zones is totally inadequate – a shortcoming that could prove fatal. We must step up the action to ensure that we get the PPE we need to do our jobs without risking injury or death.”
Sara also spoke in support of the motion calling on the TUC Women’s Committee to campaign for better toilet provision for all workers. She explained the difficulties that many reporters, photographers and other media workers working on location face with lack of toilet facilities and toilet breaks.
In the three days of the conference there was also time to discuss other concerns facing trade unionists. This included the ethical concerns that AI brings as well as noting that there are concerns that AI has a gender bias, reinforcing gender stereotypes. A motion forwarded by the Musicians Union noted, “Additional AI risks include plagiarism, inaccuracy of data and authorship issues.” And they called on the TUC to lobby the government and address concerns about AI.
There were also debates and discussion about supporting women to access training and skills; Black women’s experience of sexual harassment; and why greater awareness of intersectional gender-sensitive health and safety issues in the workplace is essential. Finally, in a lively and fraternal debate the conference voted down two motions calling for the decriminalisation of the sex industry (from Aslef and the GMB unions). While the TUC women’s committee said, “there must be a path to supporting the women and girls and marginalised groups in the sex industry,” they argued it was dangerous to treat an inherently exploitative and abusive industry, closely linked to human trafficking, as an ordinary job.
After a hand count of delegates both motions were defeated. But with many delegates abstaining it may suggest that there is a wish to hear further discussions about how to protect those that work in this industry, and to give them greater protection.