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The Morning Star 2026 Conference
Women’s rights are not some subsection of the class struggle 
Women have just as big a role to play in the trade unions and in political life as men – every aspect of our day-to-day lives is affected by workplace policies and by the decisions of the politicians in Westminster, argues HELEN O’CONNOR

IT IS no accident that too many working-class women end up trapped working long hours in low-paid dead-end jobs while juggling the lion’s share of caring and domestic duties. 

All too often women who try to get active in our unions to change the workplace end up having doors slammed in our faces. 

We quickly find ourselves relegated to the sidelines in union branches that are dominated by older men who wrongly think they know better than women. 

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