UNIONS marked the annual commemoration of the end of the slave trade today by reaffirming their commitment to embracing diversity, promoting inclusivity and actively confronting racism.

Unite and Unison said the event, which celebrates the campaigns of ex-slaves including Oloudah Equiano and Frederick Douglass, is a reminder that the “same determination and organisation are needed today to counter messages of hate and division.”

The International Day for Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition is held each year on August 23: the anniversary of the start of a successful insurrection by self-liberated slaves against French colonial rule in Saint-Domingue — modern-day Haiti — in 1791. The revolt ended in 1804 when the former colony won its independence.