AS we prepare for the 2025 STUC Women’s Conference, women trade unionists across Scotland are, once again, proving that the struggle for equality, fair work and justice is being driven forward by working‑class women.

The conference will bring together activists from every sector — from care homes to classrooms, hospitals to call centres — to share experiences, set priorities and plan collective action.

That plan must speak to the concerns of women. For too many, they still face soaring living costs, insecure employment and the daily pressures of keeping households and workplaces running amid endless cutbacks. For many, the so‑called “cost-of-living crisis” has never lifted; it simply became accepted.

In retail, care, cleaning and hospitality — sectors dominated by women — wages lag behind inflation. Meanwhile, public services are under strain, childcare remains patchy and expensive and mental health support is stretched thin. Add to that entrenched workplace discrimination and endemic sexual harassment, and it’s clear that Scotland’s economy is still failing the women who make it work.

The STUC’s Silence is Compliance report exposed just how widespread sexual harassment remains across workplaces. Too many employers and policymakers still treat it as a secondary issue. Let me be clear: tackling harassment isn’t optional, it’s fundamental to building fair work.

These realities underpin everything the Women’s Conference will debate. For working women, “austerity” isn’t an abstract economic policy: it’s the freezing cold morning when you can’t afford to heat your house before the school run, or the extra shift picked up to pay the bills. But these same women are also organising, fighting back and leading change.

Nowhere is that clearer than in Scotland’s care sector, where hundreds of Unison members employed by Enable Scotland, Capability Scotland and Blue Triangle have voted to take courageous strike action. These workers, again overwhelmingly women, are demanding what was promised long ago: pay parity with the NHS.

For years, charity sector care staff have been paid several pounds less than their NHS counterparts. They’ve lost thousands in income because of government inaction. Their strikes are about more than wages; they’re about dignity, respect and the recognition that care is skilled, essential work.

Care workers are not asking for the earth — they are only asking for equity. Their campaign symbolises the spirit that defines our movement: courage in the face of injustice, solidarity among workers and the belief that when we act collectively, we win collectively.

This fight for fairness doesn’t end in the workplace. Across Scotland, women are also confronting the toxic rise of the far right: those groups that seek to divide us along lines of race, gender and nationality. They exploit hardship and anger, pretending to speak for “ordinary people” while peddling hate and fear. They also seek to speak for women and use our valid and legitimate concerns on male violence against women as a smokescreen for their bigotry.

The newly formed Women Against the Far-Right Scotland initiative, bringing together more than 200 activists and trade unionists, has organised to resist racism and misogyny in our streets and communities.

In Falkirk, women literally stood side by side to form a “solidarity wall,” making it clear that hate has no home in Scotland. That’s the kind of courage that defines working‑class women: rooted in compassion, grounded in solidarity and utterly unshakeable.

Our message to the far right is simple. You do not speak for us, and you will never divide a movement built on unity. The fight for women’s rights, workers’ rights and racial equality is one in the same.

Leading these efforts year‑round is the STUC women’s committee. Their campaigns show what trade unionism can achieve when grounded in everyday realities.

The Food for Thought campaign calls for universal free school meals, because no child in Scotland should face hunger. Its push for buffer zones around healthcare facilities defends reproductive rights and ensures women can access healthcare free from harassment. Its ongoing work on ending sexual harassment drives home the message that safety and respect at work are non‑negotiable.

Through the STUC Women’s Weekend School and other training programmes, the committee continues to support women developing leadership and organising skills. These are the kind of skills that will shape the next generation of workplace reps, campaign leaders and community organisers.

We’ve seen that in action this past week.

Just days before the conference, on October 25, thousands marched through Edinburgh as part of the Scotland Demands Better campaign — a call from the STUC, the Poverty Alliance and others for real investment in jobs, wages, and public services.

Women were at the centre of that march. From carers and cleaners to classroom assistants and NHS staff, women led the demand for an economy that puts people before profit. 

It’s why the STUC women’s committee has drafted its Women Demand Better manifesto, demanding that those in the corridors of power and seats of political responsibility listen to the voices of our movement.

Because when women demand better, society moves forward. Scotland’s women are not asking politely for small improvements — we’re demanding a transformation rooted in dignity, equality and solidarity.

The message from this movement could not be clearer: women are leading the fight for a better Scotland. Whether challenging exploitation in the workplace, confronting the far right in our streets, or building stronger communities from the ground up, working‑class women are driving real, lasting change.

The road ahead won’t be easy. It never is. But with solidarity, determination and collective courage, we can transform not just workplaces, but our whole society.

Roz Foyer is general secretary of the Scottish TUC.