The I.W.W. remain, as we have done for over 120 years, steadfastly committed to integration, justice, and peace between members of the international working class. The Draft Code of Practice released by the E.H.R.C. last Thursday is diametrically opposed to all three.
For all the talk of “clarity” from the state and media, the summary of this guidance is not clarity, but obfuscation and arbitrary punishment. Whilst the Code of Practice does not formally apply to workplaces—theoretically limiting itself to “Services, Public Functions, and Associations”—in practice bigoted and discriminatory employers will take this as carte blanche to force transgender workers into the incorrect facilities, as we have seen from recently leaked internal guidance at the Cabinet Office. This is nakedly an undignified and disrespectful state of affairs. The I.W.W.’s trans members—as with any other trans person—have the right to work and to exist in public free from harm or fear, no matter what the E.H.R.C., the Supreme Court, or any other organ of the state might have to say about it.
The I.W.W. cannot, must not, and will not accept any attempt to reverse the decades-old rights and freedoms of trans workers, nor shall we accept any attempt to pit one section of the working class against another. The rhetoric against trans people (and, it must be noted, trans women in particular) is nothing short of a heinous moral panic, and the I.W.W. shall continue to organise, campaign, and fight in favour of safe, just, and inclusive workplaces, and for the liberation of the working class in all its beautiful variety.
We are proud to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with other unions on this issue; already the BMA, the FBU, the UCU, and Unison have issued similar statements. We call on every other union with trans workers in their membership to do the same. Solidarity forever, for the union makes us strong.