NEU annual conference 2026 - Brighton
2026-03-30 - 2026-04-03 | Brighton Centre, Kings Road, Brighton, BN1 2GR, United Kingdom
Annual Conference is attended by up to 1600 delegates, most directly elected to represent their districts, sector or equality groups.

How to Replace ‘First Past the Post’: Electoral Reform in Action - London
2026-04-01 19:30 - 21:00 (Europe/London)
Join the Mile End Institute to debate the future of British democracy – and vote at the end on the voting system that YOU prefer!
In 1918, Parliament came within hours of abolishing First Past the Post. The system only survived because the two Houses disagreed on the system that should replace it. With the Bill on the brink of collapse, the question was postponed – a reprieve that has lasted for 107 years.
In a recent YouGov poll, only 23% of respondents backed First Past the Post. But what might replace it? Different countries use a dizzying array of different systems, which are designed to do different things. Some are ‘proportional’, others ‘preferential’. Some would expand the range of parties, while others might shrink them. Do we want our electoral system to give us strong governments or strong parliaments? Do we want more or fewer regional parties, independent candidates, extremist parties or coalitions?
In this event, co-hosted with Unlock Democracy and the Electoral Reform Society, our expert panel will present different electoral systems as used in France, New Zealand, Scotland, Ireland and the Netherlands. We will debate their strengths and weaknesses; what they can and can’t achieve; and how they work in practice.
Join us to debate the future of British democracy – and vote at the end on the system that YOU prefer!

NASUWT annual conference - Birmingham
2026-04-03 - 2026-04-05 | ICC Birmingham, 8 Centenary Square, Birmingham, B1 2EA
The NASUWT Annual Conference 2026 will take place at the ICC Birmingham between Friday 3 and Saturday 4 April 2026.
Conference is attended by more than 1,000 elected representatives from all the UK’s constituent administrations, as well as by visitors and guests from across the world.

Young Workers' Patrol - Exeter
2026-04-18 11:00 - 17:00
A fantastic opportunity has arisen from the TUC Young Organisers Network (YON) to explore Exeter city centre speaking to young workers in unrecognised workplaces around their rights, responsibilities, general job satisfaction, and auditing the workplaces on their legislative compliance and understanding of best support practices for young workers.

The event will be taking place in Exeter on Saturday 18th April 2026.
This is being run to build a UK model of the “LO Summer Patrol” which has successfully run for over 40 years in Norway. The aim is to build a map of unrecognised workplaces across UK cities to support unions within the TUC to maximise trade union membership, tackling current issues affecting the younger generation of workers, and broadening the TUC and affiliated unions understanding of the nature of work in unrecognised workplaces.

We are now looking for volunteers from anyone who is considered a young member within their union interested in supporting us to sign up using the link below or the QR code on the attached leaflet.

Full training and support will be provided in preparation for the event and on the day itself. There are plenty of roles available to get involved and make a difference for trade unionism throughout the UK. If you have any questions, please reach out to SFulton@tuc.org.uk or your regional officer.

We look forward to hearing from you!

In Solidarity,
TUC Young Organisers Network

STUC Congress - Dundee
2026-04-20 - 2026-04-23

TUC Black Workers' Conference 2026 - Bournemouth
2026-04-24 - 2026-04-27 | Bournemouth International Conference Centre
The TUC Black Workers’ Conference will take place at the Bournemouth International Centre, 24-26 April 2026.

Usdaw Annual Delegate Meeting - Blackpool
2026-04-26 - 2026-04-30 | Winter Gardens, Blackpool
Usdaw’s Annual Delegate Meeting will be held at the Winter Gardens, Blackpool from Sunday 26 to Wednesday 29 April 2026.

Society of Radiographers Annual Delegates’ Conference - London
2026-04-27 - 2026-04-30
The annual event draws up to 300 SoR members to help form the strategic direction of the Society, and the radiography profession as a whole. This membership consists of regional representatives, regional and national officers and UK Council members.
Regions and nations are welcome to propose motions at ADC and send a delegate to the conference. Prospective delegates must be current SoR members and also be able to attend ADC in full, including the conference dinners, regardless of whether overnight accommodation was asked for.
Motions selected for ADC by the Delegate Conference Committee (DCC) will be discussed and debated by conference attendees. If the motion is carried, it is passed to the UK Council for consideration.

International Workers' Memorial Day
2026-04-28 - 2026-04-29
International Workers’ Memorial Day, held on 28 April every year, brings together workers and their representatives from all over the world to remember the dead and fight for the living.

May Day 2026
2026-05-01 - 2026-05-02

NAHT annual conference 2026 - Belfast
2026-05-01 - 2026-05-03 | ICC Belfast, 2 Lanyon Place, Belfast, BT1 3WH
Our Annual Conference is more than just a meeting – it’s the biggest event in the NAHT calendar, where union policy is shaped, networks are built and members’ voices lead the way forward.
Every year, hundreds of school leaders from across the UK come together to:

✨ Put forward motions and debate the issues that matter most in their schools
✨ Vote on NAHT’s policy priorities for the year ahead
✨ Hear directly from leading figures across the education sector
✨ Connect, share experiences and build lasting relationships with colleagues.

Most importantly, conference is where our union demonstrates that it is led by the members, for the members. Your voice helps set our direction, from national campaigns to pressing the government for real change.

Levellers Day
2026-05-09 - 2026-05-10
What’s happening 2026?

Saturday 9 May 2026, Warwick Hall, Burford OX18 4RY, from 10.30
There is a free car park in Burford – postcode OX18 4SE

Singing in the churchyard
The Commemoration led by the Reverend Canon Professor Mark Chapman
Stocious Celtic folk rock band outside the hall
The march round Burford
Levellers Day walking tour with Jonathan Healey and John Rees
The Levellers Day debate with John McDonnell MP
The Levellers conversation with Professor Mike Braddick
Close at 4.30

Equity Conference 2026 - Durham
2026-05-09 - 2026-05-12
Equity Conference is coming to Durham from Saturday 9 – Monday 11 May 2026. We look forward to welcoming members from across the UK for three days to debate policy and engage with the union’s industrial and campaigning work.

CWU biennial conference 2026 - Bournemouth
2026-05-10 - 2026-05-15 | Bournemouth International Conference Centre

POA annual conference 2026 - Eastbourne
2026-05-12 - 2026-05-15 | Floral Hall, Welcome Building, Wilmington Gardens, Eastbourne, BN21 4JN
The 2026 POA annual Conference will be held at the Floral Hall, Welcome Building Wilmington Gardens Eastbourne BN21 4JN. Annual Conference is the highest policy making forum within the Union and generally sets out the direction and aims of the Union for the forthcoming year.

FBU annual conference 2026 - Warwick
2026-05-13 - 2026-05-16 | Warwick Conference Centre, The University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7SH

International Day against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia
2026-05-17 - 2026-05-18
Known as IDAHOBIT for short, this date was chosen as it commemorates the date of the decision to remove homosexuality from classification as a mental illness by the World Health Organisation in 1990. The main purpose of IDAHOBIT is to raise awareness of ongoing discrimination, violence and persecution of LGBT+ people across the world.
Research by Stonewall, the national LGBT charity found that one in five LGBT people have experienced a hate crime because of their sexual orientation in the past year and over half of trans people have been subjected to a hate crime due to their gender identity.
Around a quarter of LGBT people avoid some streets due to safety concerns and 13 per cent have been discriminated against in a bar, restaurant or club venue. Trans people in particular still experience appalling levels of abuse on social media and are on the receiving end of misinformation and direct attacks from TV and print media.

TUC Disabled Workers' Conference 2026 - Bournemouth
2026-05-19 - 2026-05-21 | Bournemouth International Conference Centre
The TUC Disabled Workers’ Conference will take place at the Bournemouth International Centre, 19-20 May 2026.

PCS annual conference 2026 - Brighton
2026-05-19 - 2026-05-22 | Brighton Centre, Kings Road, Brighton, BN1 2GR, United Kingdom

BFAWU conference 2026 - Staffordshire
2026-06-06 - 2026-06-12 | Yarnfield Park, Yarnfield, Stone, Staffordshire, ST15 0NL
BFAWU conference meets each year to discuss, review and update the union’s policy agenda. It is the highest decision-making body in the union. Delegates vote on resolutions that will provide the outline of the Unions work over the coming year.
2026 Annual Conference will be held at; Yarnfield Park, Yarnfield, Stone, Staffordshire, ST15 0NL
The venue is a cashless venue which only accepts card payments.
Conference Delegates will arrive Saturday 6th June and depart Thursday 11th June 2026

GMB Congress 2026 - Blackpool
2026-06-07 - 2026-06-12 | Winter Gardens, Blackpool
GMB Congress 2026 will be held in Blackpool from Sunday 7 June 2026 until lunchtime on Thursday 11 June 2026.

RMT AGM 2026
2026-06-21 - 2026-06-27

TUC LGBT+ Conference 2026 - Brighton
2026-06-25 - 2026-06-27
The TUC LGBT+ Conference will take place at the Double Tree by Hilton, Brighton, 25-26 June 2026

Women Chainmakers Festival - Cradley Heath
2026-07-04 - 2026-07-05
In 1910 the Women Chainmakers of Cradley Heath fought a successful 10-week dispute to establish the right to a minimum wage for their labour. Each year the Women Chainmakers Festival recognises and celebrates the role of women within the trade union movement and aims to reclaim the often forgotten contribution of women to Britain’s industrial heritage. The family friendly festival usually includes a banner procession, history tent, activities for children, music and speakers.

Durham Miners Gala
2026-07-12 - 2026-07-13
Held on the second Saturday of July the Durham Miners Gala sees trade unionists from across the country descend on Durham city and the event has developed into the largest gathering of trade unionists in the country. Highlights include wave after wave of banners, each typically accompanied by a brass band, which are marched to the old Racecourse, where political speeches are delivered. In the afternoon a miners’ service is also held in Durham Cathedral which may include the blessing of any new banners.
In 2026 the Gala marks its 140th anniversary – make sure you put time in your diary to join one of the most important days in the trade union calendar. Find out more – Gala information – Friends of Durham Miners’ Gala
The Past We Inherit. The Future We Build.

Tolpuddle Martyrs Festival
2026-07-19 - 2026-07-20
This annual festival where thousands of people come together to celebrate trade unionism and remember the role of the Tolpuddle Martyrs offers a full programme of traditional and contemporary music and other attractions.
There has been an annual gathering to mark the story of the Tolpuddle Martyrs since 1930s. The event sees thousands of trade unionists from around the UK and the world descend on the small village in Dorset to celebrate the memory and legacy of the Tolpuddle Martyrs.

Peterloo Massacre (1819)
2026-08-16 - 2026-08-17
On 16 August 1819 60,000 people congregated in St Peter’s Field in Manchester, with demands for the right to vote, freedom from oppression and justice. Despite its peaceful beginning, this was a day that would end with a bloody outcome.
Why was it called Peterloo?

From Waterloo to Manchester
In 1789 the French Revolution shook the world and the ideas of liberty, equality and fraternity spread rapidly. In Britain, less than 3% of the population could vote and the system was entirely corrupt. The ideas of the French Revolution were therefore eagerly received and most powerfully expressed in Thomas Paine’s book, the Rights of Man (1791). Paine’s words inspired ordinary people to question the systems they lived under, systems that had been challenged by those across the channel. The British government prepared for war not simply to defeat the revolutionary ‘menace’ in France, but also to destroy the revolutionary ‘menace’ in Britain that Tom Paine had helped unleash. Britain eventually won the Napoleonic Wars (1803 – 1815) against France, but at great expense and with a huge national debt. Moreover, the militant ideas from France lived on. Returning British soldiers, like John Lees who was a veteran of the victorious battle of Waterloo, were now living not in the prosperity of the victor, but in poverty. Lees came from Oldham and when he returned home he continued his trade as a cotton spinner, but now with drastically reduced wages. Lees was one of those who protested in Manchester on 16 August 1819 and, having survived the battlefield, was to lose his life at the hands of his own army in the Peterloo Massacre. In the days that followed, the massacre was named ‘Peterloo’ by a journalist in a mocking reference to the celebrated victory at Waterloo in the Napoleonic Wars that Britain had fought. Lees’ dying words to his friend were, at ‘Waterloo there was man to man, but at Manchester it was downright murder’.

International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition
2026-08-23 - 2026-08-24
The slave trade is a part of our history that must be condemned and never forgotten. Therefore, Unite fully supports the call for a national day of remembrance.
From 1562 when slavery began to 1865 when the transatlantic slave trade was abolished, between 10 and 28 million African men, women and children were enslaved, persecuted and their human rights denied. By the end of slavery millions had lost their lives.
Unite pays tribute to all those who campaigned – black and white – to abolish the trafficking of enslaved African labour, particularly the enslaved African men and women themselves, former African slaves such as Olaudah Equiano and Ignatius Sancho, white working class groups, parliamentarians such as William Wilberforce and many others.
Unite calls on the government to support the organisation of an annual Remembrance Day that includes educational resources and awareness raising. The disproportionate impact of the high cost of living and lack of workers’ rights including the two-tier employment status has exposed the reality of BAEM people’s daily lives.

International Day of the Disappeared
2026-08-30 - 2026-08-31
More than a human rights violation against an individual
Enforced disappearance has frequently been used as a strategy to spread terror within the society. The feeling of insecurity generated by this practice is not limited to the close relatives of the disappeared, but also affects their communities and society as a whole.
Enforced disappearance has become a global problem and is not restricted to a specific region of the world. Once largely the product of military dictatorships, enforced disappearances can nowadays be perpetrated in complex situations of internal conflict, especially as a means of political repression of opponents. Of particular concern are:

the ongoing harassment of human rights defenders, relatives of victims, witnesses and legal counsel dealing with cases of enforced disappearance;
the use by States of counter-terrorist activities as an excuse for breaching their obligations;
and the still widespread impunity for enforced disappearance.

Special attention must also be paid to specific groups of especially vulnerable people, like children and people with disabilities.
Hundreds of thousands of people have vanished during conflicts or periods of repression in at least 85 countries around the world.

Burston Strike School Rally (1914)
2026-09-06 - 2026-09-07
On April 1st 1914 teachers Tom and Annie Higdon were dismissed from their posts in the rural village of Burston, Norfolk and with it began the ‘longest strike in history’. On that day the children marched around the village with cards hanging from their necks demanding that “We Want Our Teachers Back”.
The banner at the head of the march was inscribed with just one word “Justice”. Sixty-six of the local children had gone out on strike in support of their teachers, and the boycott of the local authority school lasted for the next twenty five years.
The Burston Strike School stands as a living monument to working class education and the struggle against rural tyranny – a true free school of the community.’
