UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea addressed national delegate conference today with a rousing and wide-ranging speech that asserted the union’s strength as the country moves forward with a Labour government.
And while she praised many of Labour’s initiatives in its first year – not least its introduction of the Employment Rights Bill – there were criticisms too, and a list of demands for the years ahead.
To huge cheers and applause, she declared: “Conference, some people say we’re too close to Labour, not critical enough of them. I say, our role as a trade union is to hold them to account, to make sure they do what they said they’d do. I’m not here to tell them they’re doing a good job – I’m here to tell them to do their job better.”
But Ms McAnea opened on the positives, and a “momentous year” since Labour’s landslide victory last July.
“This time last year we were only weeks away from a general election. After 14 years of the Tories, the country was crying out for change. And most of us were hoping for a Labour government. And, yes, we are seeing some significant changes.”
The Employment Rights Bill, she said, “is the biggest boost to workers’ rights in over 70 years.
“It spells an end to zero-hours contracts, and fire and rehire. It paves the way for better maternity and carers’ leave, and the introduction of day one rights, including the right to sick pay – rights that will make a huge difference to workers everywhere.
“And, crucially, the bill puts an end to some of the worst anti-trade union legislation introduced by the Tories. It will give unions greater freedom to organise, represent, and negotiate for their members. And next year we should see the implementation of electronic balloting. At last,” she added, again to claps and cheers, “union voting will move into the 21st century!”
Some of these promises “could have a massive impact on hundreds of thousands of UNISON members,” she said. The reintroduction of the school support staff negotiating body (SSSNB) for England and Wales alone will improve the lives of 200,000 members, while the fair pay agreement in adult social care “could be a game-changer” for the sector, “though it needs to happen sooner, not later”.
“And we’re going further than the manifesto promises,” she continued. “We want to stop companies profiteering from our essential services – and bring privatised services back in-house. We’re fighting hard to prevent a race to the bottom when it comes to pay and conditions.
“These ongoing negotiations we’re having with the government are all really important. I can’t imagine a Tory, or Reform government – led by Kemi Badenoch or Nigel Farage – sitting down to talk to us about how to restore the two-tier workforce code, or how to renationalise railways, or save British Steel.”
Labour missteps
At the same time, Ms McAnea said, “there is a big but.” She cited Labour’s attack on benefits for disabled people, its cuts to the winter fuel allowance (now reversed) and decision on limiting the number of migrant workers who can come to the UK as just some of its missteps.
And she noted that, worryingly, such mistakes were leading some people, including UNISON members, into the arms of Reform.
“One minute Farage talks about being the party for working people, and the next minute, the day after the elections – there he was threatening to sack local government workers.
“That’s the real Nigel Farage. The man whose party always votes against workers’ rights in Parliament, but wants union members to vote for him. The man who wants the NHS to be turned into a US-style insurance system. The man who – like his role-model Donald Trump – is prepared to say and do anything to get elected.”
Organising and recruitment
Whether keeping Labour on its toes, or seeing off Reform, UNISON’s response answer was to “keep building a strong union”, Ms McAnea told delegates.
“I promised an organising strategy and we’ve delivered it – and as a result, with all your hard work in branches, we’ve grown each and every year for the last three years. Last year we recruited over 200,000 new members. That’s a fantastic achievement. It’s a net gain of over 40,000 new members.
“And we’ve also got 4,000 new activists. Because it’s important that when we recruit new members we turn as many of them as possible into activists so that you – our existing activists and leaders – aren’t put under any more pressure.”
She added that she’s ensuring more support and resources for branches and regions. The branch support and organising fund – almost £3.5m in 2022 – continues to grow.
“It’s all about giving power to local branches, regions and nations, so you can take decisions that are important to your members. And it’s why we’ve seen more industrial action and disputes over the past few years.”
The general secretary went on to list an array of union successes – and tenacious, ongoing disputes around the UK – whether members in Northern Ireland ensuring that health workers were upgraded and got improved terms and conditions, putting millions of pounds into their pay packets, Wales/Cymru members pushing their government into changing the law so that private firms can no longer make huge profits from looking after children in care, to members at Scottish Water remaining in dispute over their employers’ failure to come up with a decent pay rise, to the strike action by Livv Housing workers in Knowsley – not far from the Liverpool conference – that led to an 8% pay rise and improvements to conditions.
Another example Ms McAnea gave, alluding to personal experience and the loss of her husband, Robert, last year, was the ongoing fight for phlebotomists in Gloucestershire, who so far have taken almost 100 days of strike action over pay.
She said that all this action demonstrated that: “As our name reminds us, we succeed when our branches, regions, and members are all working together – in unison.”
Casting ahead
After noting the huge pressures of a turbulent year on union colleagues and communities the world over – from Palestine to Ukraine, Sudan to the United States – Ms McAnea noted that, “This past year, perhaps more than others I can remember, it feels like international pressures are having a big impact on our country.
“This global instability is forcing the UK and Europe to spend considerably more on defence – and sending energy and food prices through the roof – making the lives of UK workers even tougher.”
And she concluded: “So where does this leave us? We can’t trust the Tories, or Reform. So yes, despite the disappointments, we need Labour to succeed.
“I want them to build more social housing as Angie Rayner has promised, I want them to grow the economy to deliver better jobs and higher wages… I want Labour to do more to show it values our public services and the people, our members, who deliver them.
“How do I think they should pay for this? Not by taking money away from those who can least afford it – but by taking it from those with the deepest pockets.
“And if the government can change their minds on other things, I say, change it on taxation. Tax wealth and profits – and raise the money needed to fix our country. That’s the message I’ll continue to take to government.”
Ms McAnea ended a rousing speech with a reaffirmation of her commitment and a call to arms to delegates.
“Our victories are not just for ourselves, but for our children, our communities, and for all those who’ll come after us,” she said.
“We’re here to improve the lives of working people – to give a voice to the disenfranchised, to give people a seat at the table. We’re here to challenge and disrupt the status quo.
“I’ve been doing that for years, and there’s plenty more to do. So I tell you conference, even though this past year has been personally tough for me, I’ve no intention of stopping now.
“So let’s keep fighting, let’s keep disrupting, and let’s work together to make our union stronger and our members’ lives better.”
The article Christina McAnea vows to keep Labour honest first appeared on the UNISON National site.
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