Trade Unions and governance
Our Trade Union Network started over four decades ago. Within 10 years half of all UK Trade Unionists were affiliates. Now, most UK-based Trade Unions affiliated to the Trade Union Congress are also affiliate members of Amnesty UK.
Lovemore Matombo , President of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions © Amnesty International / Reuben Steains
Large numbers of local branches and smaller numbers of regional branches and trades councils are also in affiliated membership. In fact, they are the largest group of affiliate members.
Working together in this way is powerful. In the over 30 years that we have been working together, solidarity from our network and the labour movement around the world has contributed to early releases for Iranian bus union leaders, freedom for Burmese labour activist Su Su Nway and more security for Zimbabwe's agricultural workers.
Who can be an Affiliate?
Our Articles of Association define affiliated members as:
“'Organisations based in the UK which are not political parties, solidarity groups or single interest country groups and which have been admitted as Affiliate Members by the Board'”
This means that most organisations can become affiliates, provided that they support our aims. We have placed restrictions on the types of organisations that can affiliate in order to ensure that we maintain our political neutrality, and to avoid distortions of our work by single-country groups.
The number of votes an affiliate member organisation has at the Annual General Meeting is proportional to its size. It has one vote for the first 5,000 members and a further one vote for each further 10,000 members or part thereof, up to a maximum of 10 votes.
The Trade Union Network Committee
Our Trade Union Network Committee works with our trade union campaigner to shape and develop campaigning with the trade unions at both national and local branch levels.
Each affiliated national union can send one representative to the Trade Union Network Committee.
The Network
- Battersea and Wandworth TUC – Bob Barron
- Equity – Ian Manborde
- CSP – Sian Caulfields
- Equity – Ian Manborde
- FBU – Riccardo La Torre
- FBU – Craig Lloyd
- NAPO – Ranjit Singh
- NASUWT – Fred Grindrod
- NEU - Warren Chambers
- NEU – Celia Dignan
- NIPSA – Geraldine Alexander
- NUJ – Tim Lezard
- PCS – Ginnette Gantschuk
- PCS – John Moloney
- UCU – Rob Copeland
- Unison – Mark Beacon
- Unison – Nick Crook
- Unison – Gemma Freedman
- Unite – Clare Baker
Related content
We work with Trades Unions all over the world to stand up for workers rights. From exploited migrant workers to teachers locked up for expressing their views we bring the Amnesty movement together with Trades Unionists to demand justice.
The right to form and join trade unions, to collectively bargain and to strike are universal human rights. And these rights have been our cause since our beginning. Find out more about our work with Trade Unions.
Affiliate your union to Amnesty International United Kingdom Section and help protect the rights of workers around the globe.