British trade unions are rallying as part of a nationwide right to food call. The mobilization comes in response to reports about increasing food insecurity among workers. Last year, the Bakers, Food, and Allied Workers’ Union (BFAWU), the University of Westminster, the Food and Work Network (FAWN), and Labour MP Ian Byrne inaugurated and coordinated a formal commission on the same topic.

Testimonies from BFAWU and other union members show workers in Britain continue to be hit hard by high living costs and stagnant income. “Six out of 10 food workers say their wages are insufficient for them to meet their basic needs like food and energy,” said Sarah Woolley, BFAWU General Secretary, during the online rally. “We know that nearly a third of food bank users are from households with at least one earning worker, whose wages don’t stretch far enough to put food on the table.”

“Hunger is definitely a trade union issue, to the extent that poverty is the effect of endemic low pay, casualization and zero-hour contracts, and also a culture of bogus self-employment,” she added.

Read more: Child nutrition in shambles: how the cost of living crisis is hurting child health in the UK

Experiences from other unionists confirm a similar situation permeates all sectors, even public services and administration. Fran Heathcote from the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) warned the situation has hardly improved under Keir Starmer’s Labour government, emphasizing that progress made on easing the two-child benefit cap and protecting benefits for people living with disabilities was ensured by rallying against this government’s plans. “We have tens of thousands of our own members earning just a fraction above the national living wage,” Heathcote pointed out. “And let’s remember, these are people directly employed by the government who are having to claim universal credit.”

Speakers also looked beyond the direct link between low wages and access to food, reflecting on changes affecting other sectors and impacting food security. Mary Williams from Unite the Union and Gawain Little from the General Federation of Trade Unions (GFTU) reflected on 2013 decisions to abolish the Agricultural Wages Board, which had long-lasting effects on agricultural production – essentially leading to a system with an aging workforce offering no opportunities for new generations. Little added that the situation points not only to the need for improved protections for agricultural workers but also to opportunities to link Britain’s reindustrialization to a comprehensive food security policy.

Other trade unionists emphasized the importance and momentum behind campaigns for universal free school meals, which have highlighted public health and education implications of hunger and food inaccessibility. Approximately 4.5 million children in Britain are living in poverty, National Education Union (NEU) General Secretary Daniel Kebede pointed out – “That’s nearly 10 children in a class of 30” – a number carrying great risks for their health and future wellbeing.

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While participants at the campaign rally agreed with demands carried forward by the Right to Food Commission – making the right to food a legal right in Britain and eliminating food insecurity and hunger – they also discussed complementary solutions. Maryam Eslamdoust from the Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association (TSSA) reflected on lessons from Global South countries and subsidies on staple foods. “When the price of bread, pasta, cooking oil, and milk go up, it isn’t just an inconvenience, it’s a crisis,” Eslamdoust pointed out, referencing price hikes since the COVID-19 pandemic. “It means skipping meals, it means parents pretending they’re not hungry so their kids can eat.”

Eslamdoust also suggested more support for local cooperatives, publicly owned grocery stores, and workplace restaurants as measures to tackle the ongoing crisis. “If elected officials can eat affordably at work, why can’t nurses, factory workers, cleaners, delivery drivers?”

In addition to inviting other unions and workers to support the campaign, BFAWU interventions echoed findings from their surveys, including workers’ demands for government action. “Amongst other things,” the union emphasized in their 2025 survey, “they [surveyed members] said wealth should be taxed, wages raised (with a higher statutory minimum wage), prices capped on food and energy, energy and water utilities nationalized, more social houses built, the creation of socially owned grocery stores and public restaurants and a complete and unequivocal end to austerity. Nothing less will do.”

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