FEDUSA national gender conference: Union leaders and activists reflected on feminism, intersectionality and the persistence of patriarchal norms in trade unions. Participants acknowledged that unions are not always safe or inclusive spaces for women leaders and activists, which undermines belonging in the labour movement. LRS gave input on internalised oppression.

Gender equality practice at Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (DENOSA): LRS facilitated DENOSA’s reflection process for the development of a gender policy. We believes that to achieve gender equality requires strong polices and continuous organisational reflection and transformation. DENOSA’s policy embeds gender equality in the nursing profession and the union, and recognises that entrenched stereotypes, for example, the assumption that care work is women’s work and therefore undervalued, perpetuates gender inequality in workplaces. DENOSA is striving to address stereotypes, women’s leadership and representation, and inclusion through its gender policy.

NUM launches inaugural LGBT+ campaign: LRS supported NUM Women’s Structure Committee to develop the union’s first LGBT+ policy and the launch of its inaugural LGBT+ rights campaign. LGBT+ members shared their experiences with leaders for the first time.

SACTWU workers research into GBV: LRS is walking alongside educators from the Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers’ Union (SACTWU) leading a new participatory action research into gender-based violence and harassment in garment factories and clothing retail stores, where 98% of women workers surveyed reported having experienced some form of GBV or harassment. LRS support includes mentorship, methodology and design, and educational resources. 

The collective ‘coming out’ of care workers in EPWP: The process of informalisation leads to a fragmented sense of identity. Nowhere is that fragmentation sharper than in the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP), where predominantly women perform essential care work under conditions designed to blur lines.  Across nutrition, early learning and healing, the State entrust the wellbeing of an entire generation of children to women, while failing to recognise and reward this labour as decent work.

LRS enabled the conditions for care workers to name their identity and analyse their work collectively. Our Transforming Public Care Programmes in South Africa initiative brings together three EPWP care worker groups: Food Handlers organised under the Gauteng Forum, Early Childhood Development practitioners organised under the South African Democratic Teachers’ Union, and Community Health Workers in the South African Care Workers Forum to advocate for decent work and fair remuneration.

Care workers are challenging the fragmentation  by naming themselves publicly as care workers, activists, women and breadwinners. In 2025, they established a national care workers platform for advocacy,  7 February as Care Workers’ Day, five collective demands for decent care work, and 60 care worker stories for advocacy.