Skip to main content
‘We must defend our comrades’ - Food workers demand action on workplace discrimination
BFAWU member Fredy Velez addresses the conference in Staffordshire [BFAWU/Lukasz Bemka]

FOOD workers demanded action on workplace discrimination against LGBT people, migrants and disabled staff today, saying “we must defend our comrades.”

Bakers’ union members meeting in Staffordshire for their 2023 conference overwhelmingly endorsed a series of motions which urged more training for shop stewards and full-time union officials to better support workers from minority groups.

Speaking at Yarnfield Park conference centre in Stone, union member Fredy Velez said: “It’s worrying that hate crimes on the grounds of sexuality are on the rise in this country. It’s very worrying not to feel safe on the streets.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
STUC delegates
Voices of Scotland / 31 August 2026
31 August 2026

ANN HENDERSON looks at the centenary of the foundation of the STUC women’s committee, and the challenges facing women in the trade unions today

Phlebotomists in Gloucestershire, members of Unison, mark their 236th day of industrial action during a rally outside Gloucester Shire Hall, November 2025
Features / 16 July 2026
16 July 2026

TIM ROBERTS says unions have always led on the fight for equality as well as for justice at work

International Women’s Day 2026
International Women’s Day 2026 / 7 March 2026
7 March 2026

Half a century after transformative laws reshaped Britain, women’s rights are again contested. This International Women’s Day is a call to remember how change was won, and to organise to defend it, says KATE RAMSDEN