The blockade of Oxford Circus with wheelchairs tied together with chain on 28 January demonstrated the readiness for civil disobedience – along with the ability to grab headlines. Andy Greene, a member of DPAC's national steering committee, explains that the action came about as the Welfare Reform Bill was going through parliament and was high on the agenda of both DPAC and their partners-in-protest UK Uncut. He says: ‘It kick-started consciousness more than anything … It showed we had the power within the movement to reignite the militant actions that hadn't been seen since the late eighties and early nineties’. (Stephensen, 2012)

It is time for women to get active in their unions, to recognise that the unions belong to them and to use the strength of the union movement to push agendas on women's issues from abortion rights in Northern Ireland to the gender pay gap across the UK. In modern trade unions, the equality structures are already there, intersectionality is recognised, and the political influence is already there. A senior trade unionist in the TUC, Becky Wright, said: ‘When I was 19, I was asked if I’d thought about joining a union. I wasn't entirely sure what that meant. They said, “Do you want to learn how to be a campaigner?” And I thought, “Yes I do”’. We are trade unionists because we want change so we should use every tool in the armoury to achieve it. (Mullaly, 2018)