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The Morning Star 2026 Conference
Women at work – it’s time to make organising around pay and conditions a priority
Union equality structures need a fresh approach to break out of siloed thinking and develop women’s abilities to organise within their workplaces against exploitative employers, writes HELEN O’CONNOR
Paramedics of the GMB union protest outside Parliament on January 31 this year

ACCORDING to research by the TUC, workplaces with a predominantly female workforce, eg the NHS (77 per cent), teaching (75 per cent) or social care (82 per cent) will be disproportionately affected by the anti-strike Bill intended to enforce minimum service levels.

This means that women are more at risk of being sacked for taking strike action during disputes. 

The pay gap between men and women currently stands at 14.9 per cent and women aged between 50 and 59 have the highest pay gap of 20.8 per cent. 

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