TUC Midlands Equalities Conference 


2024 report

Report from the TUC Midlands Equalities Conference 2024 to Wolverhampton TUC by Sonia Wilkins

I attended the TUC Midlands Equalities Conference on Saturday 9 th November 2024 which
was a safe and enjoyable event on behalf of TUC Wolverhampton & Bilston. It was held at
the TUC Midlands building itself on Summer Lane in Birmingham which was walkable from
St. Chad’s Midland Metro station.

Prof. Sue Sanders, CEO for Schools OUT/Co-founder of UK LGBT+ History Month UK
spoke about “SCHOOLS OUT” which is an LGBT+ education charity that empowers people
in all learning settings to create environments where all LGBT+ people feel safe, seen and
supported. Promoting a whole school/organisation approach, increasing the visibility of
LGBT+ history. She spoke about Section 28 which came into effect on 24 th May 1988 and
was repealed in England and Wales on 18 th September 2003. We celebrate UK heritage
months to help foster diversity, inclusion and equality in the workplace such as LGBT+
History month in February and Women’s History Month in March. Disability History month is
celebrated from 14 th November to 20 th December 2024 and it sad to hear that disabled
people are less likely to be employed than non-disabled people. The gap is even wider for
people with Learning Disabilities who are even more likely to be employed (just 4.8%)!

Karen Constantine and Diane Defries from the “Movement for an Adoption Apology”
movement where it is estimated half a million women in the UK lost their babies due to
historic forced adoption, simply because they were not married. So many UK children grew
up without their mother, their family and their heritage and an Adoption apology is demanded
for these past unethical adoption practices where women were left with guilt and shame who
found them themselves pregnant and unmarried in the post WW2 years. These women were
banished from home by their parents to heartless Mother & Baby Homes run by religious
and state organisations who took payment from the women or their families. If anyone is
interested in buying “Taken: Experiences of Forced Adoption” it can be pre ordered via this
link https://prampublications.com

Jess Phillips MP and Government Minister for Safeguarding & Violence against Women and
Girls spoke about how the new Labour government are delivering on equalities. She also
commented that she enjoyed some of Bilston’s local delicacies!

Matt Pointon from the TUC -WMCA Skills Partnership Lead spoke about how learning can
support the equalities agenda. He spoke about how we address the digital divide to ensure
older workers are not excluded from opportunities due to technical advancements and it
being harder to learn new tech as our brains become less plastic as we age. This is an
international issue as well as a national issue as not every older person can afford
technology (class issue).

Nimo Hirsi, a French school teacher spoke about being a successful Somali immigrant
despite challenges in Racism and with other panellists they spoke about combatting the far-
right.

Unfortunately Hope Not Hate sent their apologies to give us an update on what is happening
in the Midlands in terms of right-wing activism.

Every year the TUC Midlands hosts an equality conference to support the advancement of issues that disproportionally impact minority groups.

This year, in response to the far right thuggery we have seen on our streets, we will be having a particular focus on how we, as trade unionists, can take a leading role in combating the far right.

We will hear from:
Vic Jones, TUC Senior Policy Officer on the context of the far right and the emerging TUC and wider affiliate strategic response.
Ade Toomey from TUC Education will run through an enote about how we can have difficult conversations in the workplace on this subject.
Nimo Hirsi, will talk about life, as a Somali, living under the threat of the far right in the region at present
Cecile Wright will talk about how trades councils can work in the communities to help pull together local coalitions in support of vulnerable communities. 
The Movement for an Adoption Apology campaign will talk about how they are pushing for a government apology for mothers who were forced to put their children up for adoption.
Jess Phillips MP, the Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls will be addressing the conference on how Labour are delivering on equalities in government.

Matt Pointon from the TUC-WMCA Skills Partnership will be leading a workshop on how unions can use the learning agenda to help deliver on equalities. 

Last, but not least, we’ll also be hearing about how we address the digital divide, to ensure older workers are not excluded from opportunities as a result of the technological revolution.

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  1. OCTOBER 2024 Secretary’s Report – Wolverhampton, Bilston & District Trades Union Council
  2. November 2024 minutes – Wolverhampton, Bilston & District Trades Union Council

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