Unions Move to Support Sex Work Decriminalisation

Civil Service workers’ union PCS is the latest union to call for sex work decriminalisation, backing affiliation to Decrim Now at its conference in May 2026. Motions supporting decriminalisation were also submitted to the National Delegate Conference of UK's largest union, UNISON.

Nevertheless, UNISON 4 Decrim is a new campaign in UNISON committed to decriminalisation and unionisation of sex work. They will be hosting a meeting and stall at the conference as part of trying to change UNISON policy to support decrim. ‘We are fighting a reactionary and conservative vision of women’s rights, especially in relation to the question of strippers and sex workers’ rights,’ they say. ‘Many feminists have been more than happy to allow the police and immigration officials to do their dirty work in trying to “abolish” the sex industry.’

Unions already having policies for decriminalisation include ASLEF, BFAWU, BMJ, RCN, CWU, UCU, GMB, Equity, and IWW.

Women's Fightback supports the decriminalisation of sex work; sex workers’ ability to form unions and organise together for safer working conditions is central to fighting exploitation in the sex industry. The ability of individuals to leave the sex industry or to report sexual violence when it occurs in the workplace rests on a number of things, including the decriminalisation of sex work, an end to the hostile environment, the opening up of legal and safe routes for migrants into the UK, and the availability of other well-paid, flexible work, adequate benefits, and decent housing.

There now exists a Sex Workers’ Union in the UK, a branch of the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union. The Sex Workers’ Union has achieved significant wins in a number of strip clubs, where organising is easier because those venues are recognised legal workplaces; but it has also organised sex workers on online platforms with some success. The union, through its sister organisation, Workers for Decrim, is seeking support for decriminalisation from the wider trade union movement.

• Read more about Decrim Now, National Campaign for Sex Workers’ Rights, at decrimnow.org.uk