Equality

GMB has been at the forefront of the fight for equality within trade unions, at the workplace and within society for many years. Women make up nearly 40 per cent of our members. We have had structural arrangements for women since 1980. Our Equal Rights structure also covers discrimination on the grounds of disability, age and sexual orientation and equality issues for men. Our regional equal rights officer is Peggy Blyth - . Please contact her for more information or to get involved. 

National and Regional Equal Rights Advisory Committees advise on Union equal rights policy and liase with National and Regional Race Committees. They advise on recruitment and participation within GMB at all levels of women and other groups which experience discrimination. The Head of Equal Rights acts as Secretary to the National Equal Rights Advisory Committee. 

GMB remains one of the few unions to have reserved seats for women at both Central Executive Council and Regional Council levels. GMB sends full delegations to the TUC and Labour Party Women’s Conferences and the TUC Lesbian and Gay Conference. A reserved seat for Lesbian and Gay workers on the TUC General Council was set up in 2001.

Regional Equal Rights Committee

Composition and terms of office

Each Region has 10 delegates to REFRAC. These members serve for four years.

  • 4 are elected from the Regional Equal Rights Conference: 3 women and 1 man
  • 4 are elected from Regional Council: 3 women and 1 man
  • 1 is elected from Regional Committee
  • 1 each are co-opted from Disability Forum, Young Members, Race Committ and an LGBT member

Legal equality

The Union won the first ever equal pay for work of equal value case when Julie Hayward achieved her famous victory, and has continued to win compensation for many thousands of members for cases of unequal pay, sex discrimination, sexual harassment and discriminatory dismissal of pregnant women.

Negotiating for equality and Equal Pay

We aim to put equal rights, and in particular equal pay and developments on the family friendly agenda, at the top of the negotiating agenda and continue our groundbreaking campaign on domestic violence as a work place issue. Courses for Reps on Equal Pay and the work of the Equal Pay Task Force are arranged by the GMB and the TUC.

GMB produces negotiators guides on a wide range of equality issues. These include negotiating equal opportunities agreements, tackling harassment, equality audits, flexible working and the Family Charter. Contact the Regional Equal Rights Officer for further details. 

Regular equality briefings are posted onto GMB website and are available from your Regional Equal Rights Officer. Equality Seminars, focusing on the equality bargaining agenda are available to all Regions from the Head of Equal Rights. Training for Branches and Branch Equality Officers is available via Regional Equal Rights Officers.

Campaigning for equality

GMB’s reputation for campaigning for equal rights is second to none. We have used our parliamentary and European links to further women’s rights, to fight racism, and to challenge discrimination against people with disabilities.