Campaign for pregnant workers

Unite assistant general secretary Diana Holland today (Tuesday, September 15) moved a motion at the TUC in support of pregnant women facing discrimination at work.

 
“When I first became a union officer I was contacted daily by pregnant women who were being sacked or facing discrimination,” she said. “25 years later the law is better and stronger. We have made a difference.”

But, Diana contended, unlawful discrimination has not ended.

“I am angry and horrified that a woman fruit picker was forced to give birth in the fields because the employer would not listen to her,” she recounted. “And a woman warehouse worker gave birth in the toilets at work because she was too frightened to seek the support she needed.”

These are not isolated examples, Diana argued.

“1 in 9 new mothers are forced out of work each year,” she said. “That’s 54 thousand women; 54 thousand families.”

“Yet last year only 788 felt able to raise this at a tribunal,” Diana added. “Unite women are calling for this campaign as a priority for our movement.”

She highlighted that when fighting the trade union Bill, we must remind people of the positive difference unions can make for pregnant workers.

“When a pregnant woman bus driver asked for an appropriate uniform she was handed a very large pair of men’s trousers,” Diana said. That’s when the union made sure she was provided with safe, comfortable clothing and treated with respect.

 
“When pregnant workers feel pressured not to attend ante-natal care appointments its the union that can make sure they and their babies get the medical support that is their right.

“And,” Diana added, “if you want a phased return to work after maternity leave, 80 per cent of union workplaces have achieved this, compared with just 58 per cent where there is no union.”

Diana noted that the same union advantage applies to all family leave and pay, and unions also negotiate better support on miscarriage, IVF, premature birth, multiple births and adoption, which she said are vital to so many.

 
“And finally, when the government’s equality analysis of the trade union Bill says there are ‘no adverse equality impacts’ it has inadvertently left in a note in the brackets which says: ‘[We may need to add some statistics here]’.”

 
“Well,” Diana added, “we can help with those missing statistics and they show that without effective, independent, free trade unions, pregnant workers lose out.”