A selection of publications on the subject of pregnancy and maternal rights, from the 1990s to the present.

The TUC has today commented on the report of the Equality and Human Rights Commission findings of discrimination against pregnant women on an “industrial scale”.

As the image above shows, the TUC and wider trade union movement have been campaigning against discrimination of pregnant women for decades and have had many successes in securing increased rights for mothers.

The TUC Library documents these campaigns, with publications from a broad range of organisations, including the TUC, unions, the Fawcett Society, the Health and Safety Executive, the EHRC and many academic studies into the issue.

For more information about these items or anything else the TUC Library holds, get in touch.

A range of material from the TUC Library on the subject of sexual harassment, 1980s-present.

As the media today highlights research undertaken by the TUC that more than half of women report having been sexually harassed at work, the image above shows that it is an issue the trade union movement has been campaigning around for many decades.

The TUC Library contains a collection of reports and leaflets on the subject that date back to the 1970s, when it began to be taken more seriously as a campaigning issue. Our material includes leaflets from the TUC, unions, government departments, the Equality and Human Rights Commission, etc. It also contains other material, such as posters (like this poster from the Local Government Officers union in the 1980s).

We also have the most recent publications from the TUC on the subject, such as this Protection from Sexual Harassment: Know Your Rights guide published earlier this year.

To find out more about the material in the TUC Library, get in touch.

Journalists on strike at BBC Television Centre, August 7th 1985. Copyright: TUC Library

This Sunday (7th August) will mark the anniversary of the National Union of Journalists strike at the BBC in 1985. Journalists walked out on strike in opposition to the decision of the BBC Board of Governors to ban the broadcast of a Real Lives documentary on the issue of Northern Ireland. The NUJ argued that the decision was overt censorship following pressure from the Home Secretary, Leon Brittan. The programme was eventually broadcast with several amendments. The strike included some journalists working at ITN, who struck in solidarity with their BBC colleagues.

The photo above shows (from left): the broadcaster Claire Rayner, radio DJ Mike Smith and BBC presenter Jeremy Paxman, amongst others.