All 11 trade unions affiliated to the Labour Party have issued a joint statement expressing solidarity with trans and non-binary people and calling on the Government to protect their rights in workplaces and communities.
The statement, published by Labour Unions, says:
“Labour’s 11 affiliated trade unions stand in total solidarity with the trans and non-binary community.”
It adds:
“Trans rights are human rights, and trans rights are workers’ rights.”
Labour’s affiliated trade unions are ASLEF, Community, CWU, FBU, GMB, the Musicians’ Union, NUM, TSSA, UNISON, Unite and USDAW. Labour Unions acts as the umbrella organisation coordinating their activity within the party.
Unions call on Government to act
The joint statement says the trade union movement will support trans members and wider trans communities against harassment, persecution and attack.
It continues:
“The government must act now to protect all trans people, to make sure their rights are protected, expanded and upheld in our workplaces and communities.”
The intervention comes immediately ahead of Labour’s National Annual Women’s Conference in Liverpool on Saturday 26 September, which brings together women delegates for policy debates, speeches and elections alongside a wider fringe programme open to all conference pass holders.
Conference rules have prompted union criticism
The statement also comes against the backdrop of disagreement over Labour’s rules for this year’s Women’s Conference.
Labour decided that trans women would not be eligible to participate in the formal women-only proceedings, including voting and debates in the main conference hall, while allowing them to attend fringe events and exhibitions. The change followed the Supreme Court’s 2025 judgment on the meaning of “sex” in the Equality Act.
Earlier this summer, UNISON, ASLEF, USDAW and the Musicians’ Union said they would not send delegations to the Women’s Conference because the access arrangements conflicted with their policies on trans equality.
Some women’s rights organisations have taken the opposite view. FiLiA’s Trade Union Women’s Network criticised the boycott and argued that the conference arrangements reflected the legal position following the Supreme Court ruling.
Joint statement widens the message across Labour’s union movement
The latest intervention is broader than the earlier conference boycott, because it is presented as a joint position of all 11 Labour-affiliated unions rather than only the unions that had announced they would stay away from the Women’s Conference.
The statement frames the issue principally as one of workplace and trade union rights, arguing that protecting trans workers is part of the wider labour movement’s responsibility to defend members from discrimination and harassment.
Debate likely to continue at Liverpool
The publication of the statement on the eve of conference means trans equality is likely to remain part of the wider political discussion around Labour’s gathering in Liverpool.
The unions’ collective position is clear: they regard trans rights as inseparable from workers’ rights and are pressing the Government to ensure protections for trans and non-binary people are upheld and strengthened.
