Fair work action plan: annual report

3.7. Trade Union

Our commitment

Supporting trade unions to embed Fair Work in workplaces.

What we have achieved

Trade Union and Fair Work Modernisation Fund

We have continued the Trade Union and Fair Work Modernisation Fund, providing a further £250,000 in both 2019/20 and 2020/21 to support unions in embedding the Fair Work Framework in workplaces in Scotland. Most recently this funding has enabled unions to work proactively to support the national response to the Covid-19 pandemic, building upon ongoing efforts to tackle precarious work, and organising for Fair Work in less unionised sectors.

Leadership and Equality Programme

We have continued to provide £100,000 support until the end of the financial year for the Leadership and Equality Programme which aims to increase the leadership capacity of under-represented groups within unions and build the capacity of unions to promote workplace equality as part of broader Fair Work priorities.

The programme aims to develop leadership and promote equalities at all levels within trade unions. It supports the diversification of leadership within the trade union movement and helps provide trade unionists with the skills to identify and nurture new leaders from under-represented groups within their unions.

Our future priorities

We will continue to support unions to progress our shared Fair Work agenda, working with the STUC on specific projects which deliver our Fair Work Action Plan ambitions, including increasing collective and sectoral bargaining in targeted sectors. Trade Unions have always been viewed as key social partners by the Scottish Government, and we have worked closer together than ever before during the pandemic, striving to mitigate the impacts on Scotland's workers. This, and the increased tripartite engagement between government, employers and unions, has laid an even stronger foundation from which we can work collaboratively to further our Fair Work ambitions for Scotland.