International Women’s Day has always carried a tension between celebration and struggle. In 2026, that tension feels sharper than ever. Across Britain, women are holding together the public realm—teaching, caring, cleaning, coordinating, healing—while navigating a labour market that still treats their safety, time, and expertise as expendable.
This year’s global theme, “Give To Gain,” is a reminder that progress is not a zero‑sum game. When women win, workplaces become safer, fairer, and more humane for everyone. When women’s rights are protected, entire communities gain stability. And when women organise, the whole labour movement becomes stronger.
For Solidarity, “Give To Gain” is not a slogan. It is a description of how collective power works.
🌿 The Work Women Give — and the Barriers They Face
Women’s labour is the backbone of Britain’s essential services, yet the conditions surrounding that labour remain structurally unequal. Women continue to face:
- Persistent pay gaps, especially in feminised sectors where low wages are treated as an inevitability rather than a political choice.
- Precarious contracts that punish pregnancy, caring responsibilities, and disability.
- Workplace harassment and institutional minimisation, where reporting systems are opaque, slow, or actively hostile.
- Cuts to public services that shift unpaid care back onto women, particularly working‑class women, migrant women, and women of colour.
These are not isolated problems. They are the architecture of inequality. And they are maintained by employers who rely on women’s willingness to “give” without demanding anything in return.
🔧 Union Power: Where Giving Becomes Collective Gain
The labour movement has always understood that solidarity is reciprocal. When workers stand together, each person’s contribution strengthens the whole. This is the heart of “Give To Gain”—the idea that collective investment produces collective liberation.
Across Solidarity branches, women have shown what this looks like in practice:
- Cleaners organising for secure contracts, transforming unstable jobs into dignified, predictable work.
- Care workers demanding safe staffing levels, protecting themselves and the people they support.
- University staff challenging toxic cultures, refusing to let prestige mask institutional harm.
- Migrant women workers unionising, asserting their right to visibility, safety, and fair treatment.
These victories were not gifted by employers. They were won through meetings, strike ballots, WhatsApp groups, and the quiet courage of refusing to accept the unacceptable.
When women give their time, their insight, and their solidarity to the union, the entire movement gains strength.
🔥 2026’s Challenge: Turning Solidarity Into Structural Change
This year, Solidarity is calling on all members—women and allies alike—to treat “Give To Gain” as a mandate for action.
1. Give your voice — gain safer workplaces
Support survivor‑centred reporting systems that remove the burden from individuals and place responsibility squarely on employers.
2. Give your backing — gain fair pay
Stand with women‑led campaigns for sectoral collective bargaining in care, retail, and hospitality.
3. Give your pressure — gain public services that work
Fight for properly funded childcare, social care, and health services. Cuts always land hardest on women.
4. Give your solidarity — gain a movement that includes everyone
Ensure migrant women, disabled women, and women of colour are not just present but leading.
This is the political heart of “Give To Gain”: when we invest in women’s rights, we build a labour movement capable of transforming the conditions of work for all.
🌱 A Movement Rooted in History, Growing Toward Justice
International Women’s Day began in the labour movement—born from garment workers striking for safety, dignity, and the right to be heard. It was never meant to be apolitical. It was never meant to be polite.
Solidarity stands firmly in that lineage. We honour it not with nostalgia, but with organising.
✊ To Every Woman in Solidarity
You give more than most people will ever see.
You hold workplaces together.
You carry the emotional weight of systems that should support you but too often fail.
This year, we say clearly:
You should not have to give endlessly without gaining safety, respect, and fair treatment in return.
International Women’s Day 2026 is a reminder that liberation is collective work—and that unions remain one of the few places where that work can be won.
Solidarity means all of us, or none of us..
By Pat Harrington
