Why am I talking to white trade unionists about racism? The answer's pretty simple – the latest survey evidence strongly suggests that there are serious problems in the trade union movement requiring urgent attention. The Trade Union Congress (TUC) ran the Racism at Work survey between December 2016 and February 2017. Almost 5,200 people took part. 82.4% of whom were trade union members. 65% of non-white British participants reported that they had experienced racial harassment at work in the past 5 years, while less than half said that they were treated unfairly by their employer because of their race. Equally worrying is the fact that less than one third of non-White British participants who had experienced workplace racism had reported that they had sought support from their trade union. Why?
Recently I co-authored a report commissioned by the TUC, Racism Ruins Lives, based on their earlier survey. Here I want to spotlight the various issues which our research revealed the trade union movement must urgently address, including some of the recurring issues that I have encountered while disseminating this work to various trade union audiences. In doing so, I also want to consider the role that whiteness plays in trade union anti-racism moving forward.
Racism ruins lives – the TUC survey
Answers given to the TUC survey’s open-ended questions highlight a number, often overlapping, reasons as to why non-White British participants do not turn to their union for solidarity. A considerable number of participants reported experiencing racism at the hands of a trade union members/ officials.
