The Unions Are Betraying Women
The president of the worker’s union the GMB, Barbara Plant, also told attendees that interim guidance from the Equality and Human Rights Commission is “ill-considered, rushed and far from being coherent or impartial”, and suggested that the government “can simply avoid it”.
Dalgety, who co-edited The Women Who Wouldn’t Wheesht, a collection of essays by prominent gender-critical women including the Harry Potter author JK Rowling and the academic Kathleen Stock, accused the trade union movement of having a “blatant disregard for the law as set out by the highest court in the land”.
“Women trade unionists in Scotland have long suffered the misogyny that arguably festers at the heart of the trade union movement.”
Dalgety also suggested their position might risk members coming into conflict with employers who enforce current equality laws around single-sex spaces.
The author argued: “Perhaps it is time for more women to exercise their ‘legal muscle’ and challenge their trade union in court, where the law is firmly on their side.”
Dalgety’s criticisms were echoed by gender-critical activists, who demanded enforcement of the EHRC guidance.
Susan Smith, co-founder of For Women Scotland, said: “Thanks to the Supreme Court, no one should be in any doubt about the law and the obligations to ensure that women’s rights are universally protected. Sadly, there are still thwarted and angry voices who want to dismantle those rights.
“The TUC would never stand by brazen attempts to attack, for example, the disabled or minority-ethnic groups, but, after over 150 years of defending workers, it seems thrilled by the prospect of betraying women who pay them to uphold their rights in the workplace.”
Maya Forstater, CEO of the human rights charity Sex Matters that intervened in the landmark Supreme Court case, said: “We have heard from so many women and men who are afraid that their union won’t support them if they express gender-critical views or stand up for single-sex spaces.
She added: “We already know of some women who are bringing cases against their union. If trades unions don’t recognise the law and support their members, there will be more.”
The calls for action come amid a dispute between a nurse, Sandie Peggie, and NHS Fife in a tribunal case. It centres around a clash between Peggie and a transgender doctor, Beth Upton, on Christmas Eve 2023. Peggie told Upton, who is biologically male, that the doctor should not have been in female facilities in Victoria Hospital, Kirkcaldy, their place of work.
Peggie’s lawyer has warned that she expects a flood of employment tribunals involving gender-critical workers in the wake of the Supreme court ruling. Naomi Cunningham, who represented Peggie, said the April verdict had sparked a “paradigm shift” in the workplace.
She said: “I think there will be a lot more tribunals. They can’t push women around on this any more. It’s OK to say that a man’s a man.”
A TUC spokesman said: “While trans people remain legally protected from discrimination and harassment, those protections are not being realised following the Supreme Court ruling. The ruling leaves real practical issues for employers and workers, which is what this motion considers.
“Rather than overturning the judgment, it proposes that our laws are updated and improved so that they are inclusive and protective for all — including trans people and women.”
