By UNISON general secretary Andrea Egan
International Women’s Day is this Sunday. Every lesson I’ve learned, every battle I’ve been part of, has taught me one truth: when working class women organise, nothing can stop us.
Women make up the majority of the public service workforce, yet you bear the brunt of unsafe staffing levels, low pay, discrimination, and impossible workloads.
UNISON women have transformed workplaces, changed legislation, and reshaped the national conversation. We have won improvements in pay, conditions, maternity rights, domestic abuse support, flexible working, and equality protections. And we have done it not by waiting politely, but by organising together.
We know better than anyone how cuts and underfunding affect those we care for. And when governments refuse to invest in childcare, families, or public services, women feel it first. We cannot wait for anyone else to fight on our behalf. We must continue to take action because there is so much further to go.
The average pay disparity between men and women is a massive 12.8%. In education and health and social care where women make up the majority of the workforce, the gender pay gap is 17% and 12.8%.
The gender pay gap means that the average woman works the first 47 days of the year for free. Just imagine working all of January and half of February before you start earning any money – compared to a male colleague. How can that still be right in 2026? We demand better, now.
There are signs of things getting better – the Employment Rights Act is an important step on the road to pay parity – but the steps are far too small and far too slow.
For a start the government should increase access to paid parental leave so mums and dads can share care more fairly.
And as we demand better, we have to demand better for all women. I want to be absolutely clear: I stand proudly and unequivocally in defence of LGBT+ rights. I am proud to be a trans ally. Equality is not negotiable. And discrimination in any form has no place in our workplaces.
Nobody should have their dignity taken away because of the sex they were deemed to be at birth. Too many countries have moved forward on gender recognition while the UK has slipped backwards. That must change — and UNISON will be at the front leading to make that change happen.
So this International Women’s Day, let’s stand together as proud UNISON women and a transformation of society that uplifts the rights and dignity of all women.
