Working in union: upholding your workplace rights

CSP members work across the trade union movement every day

In the NHS, CSP stewards and safety reps sit on employer-level and national NHS staff sides. However, when it comes to issues that cross economic sectors – or impacts both the public and private sector – much of our work flows through the peak national federations.

England and Wales’ main federation is the Trades Union Congress (TUC), constituting 48 trade unions and more than 5.5 million members.

The TUC’s weight is vital

With CSP support, the TUC spearheaded the campaign against the minimum service levels legislation, introduced in 2023, which would have seriously curtailed the right to strike in healthcare. Following constant cross-union pressure, the new government has indicated it will now stand down this legislation.

Similarly, the CSP’s ongoing contribution to the independent Covid-19 inquiry – which is examining the UK’s response to and the impact of the coronavirus pandemic – is being coordinated through the TUC.

How we influence

These projects stem from national TUC policy, set each year at its congress. 

Each September, the CSP moves and amends motions which, if passed, form the TUC’s year-round work.

This year, the CSP called for a redoubling of efforts to close the gender pay gap and pushed for a cross-union campaign to establish a statutory right to miscarriage leave. If successful, this would expand on new NHS contractual provisions we helped develop through NHS staffside.

The TUC also hosts annual equality conferences and committees – focused on supporting Black workers, women, young workers, disabled workers, and LGBTQIA+ members.

From 2018, the CSP has used its voice in these equality structures to campaign for greater legal protections from workplace sexual harassment. In 2021, the UK government committed to changing the law, and the resultant worker protection bill will cover all UK workers and businesses from this month. 

National federations across the UK

An early proponent of devolution, TUC Cymru celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. The TUC in Wales maintains its own congress, conference and committee structure, which can influence national policy – for example, following a 2016 Welsh Congress motion, TUC Cymru successfully pushed for a menopause policy to be adopted across the devolved public sector.  

The Scottish Trades Union Congress, meanwhile, is a wholly independent organisation. The CSP sits with 40 sibling unions in Scotland, representing more than half a million workers. The CSP pushes to include health into the agenda for the STUC, and recently had a motion on acknowledging that the housing crisis is also a public health crisis and needs to be treated as such.

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) is the federation for trade unions on the island of Ireland. The CSP sits on its Northern Ireland Committee (NIC-ICTU) – composed of 34 trade unions, representing over 200,000 members. 

At the last all-Ireland conference, we highlighted that Northern Ireland was the only part of the two islands with no women’s health strategy. We argued that this had to be a priority, helping to prompt the incoming executive to begin work on a strategy.