From Inertia to Community Unionism: Trade Union Responses to Racism and Discrimination in the Workplace

Recent developments such as the Black Lives Matter movement and the COVID-19 pandemic have laid bare persistent racial disparities in the UK, especially in the workplace. Despite the presence of a battery of legislative and regulatory protections, ethnic minority groups are characterised by lower employment levels, occupational segregation in the lowest-paying and most insecure jobs, a substantial pay gap compared to the white majority and overall lower economic achievement. In this context, the role of trade unions in combatting racism and discrimination is worth questioning. This article analyses how issues of race and industrial relations have been and continue to be connected. Drawing on official reports from trade unions and available archives, it underlines the developing position of trade unions regarding issues of racism and discrimination. It first analyses how the labour market became racialised following the advent of significant non-white immigration, with racism pervasive in trade unions. It then highlights the role played by ethnic minority groups’ resistance and mobilisation to oppose racism and discriminatory practices in the workplace. Finally, it scrutinises how the unions’ changing attitudes and policy agenda on racism and discrimination foster renewal through strategic engagement in community unionism.