Winning for workers through procurement – Buying Social Justice toolkit presented at TUC webinar

The important role that trade unions can play in encouraging the inclusion of equality and diversity considerations in public procurement was highlighted to a group of active trade union representatives and officers in late July, when members of the Buying Social Justice project team took part in a TUC London and South Eastern webinar, organised as part of the TUC ‘Our Work Matters’ campaign.

Dr Joyce Mamode and Professor Tessa Wright outlined the relevant findings from the Buying Social Justice research project for the participants with a focus on the opportunities that the research had highlighted for trade unions to influence public procurement to promote good employment and equality practices in difficult to organise sectors such as construction. The presentation outlined the contents of the Buying Social Justice Toolkit and accompanying trade unionists’ guide, which highlights the possibilities for including procurement requirements linked to gender and ethnicity pay gaps and apprenticeship and employment opportunities for under-represented groups.

A recording of the webinar: Using procurement to win for outsourced workers is available via the TUC Education You Tube channel. You will find the project team’s presentation from 24.44 minutes onwards in the recording.  Joyce and Tessa’s involvement with the TUC webinar marked one of the last activities of a 6-month impact project funded by Queen Mary University of London aimed at supporting trade unions to use the Buying Social Justice equality and diversity toolkit and evaluating the ways in which they might incorporate it into their work.

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