The comments made by Liam Fox, the Conservative MP for North Somerset, on Twitter on 21 October 2022.
I will be voting for Rishi Sunak as the next leader of the Conservative Party and our next Prime Minister. He has the judgement to heal our economy and unite our Party. His calm confidence is just what the UK needs.
The comments made by Sajid Javid, the Conservative MP for Bromsgrove, on Twitter on 21 October 2022.
I’m backing Rishi Sunak – he has the leadership our country needs, and the values our party needs.
The comments made by Andrea Leadsom, the Conservative MP for South Northamptonshire, on Twitter on 21 October 2022.
Delighted by this! [in response to Penny Mordaunt confirming that she was standing for the leadership] Penny has the experience, the compassion and the determination to lead our country to a bright future! #PM4PM
The comments made by Alok Sharma, the Conservative MP for Reading West, on Twitter on 21 October 2022.
I am backing Boris Johnson – he won a mandate from the electorate in 2019.
We need to get back to delivering on the Conservative manifesto we were elected on.
![PRESS RELEASE : Government backs new law to help pregnant women and new parents stay in work [October 2022]](https://www.ukpol.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/businessenergy-150x150.png)
The press release issued by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on 21 October 2022.
Pregnant women and new parents will receive greater protections from redundancy under new legislation backed by the government today (Friday 21 October).
Under current rules, before offering redundancy to an employee on maternity leave, shared parental leave or adoption leave, employers have an obligation to offer them a suitable alternative vacancy where one exists.
The Pregnancy and Maternity Discrimination Bill, introduced by Dan Jarvis MP and backed by the government, will enable this redundancy protection to be extended so it applies to pregnant women as well as new parents returning to work from a relevant form of leave. This will help shield new parents and expectant mothers from workplace discrimination, offering them greater job security at an important time in their lives.
It follows a government consultation on these proposals which found evidence of new parents facing prejudice in the workplace, with an estimated 54,000 women a year feeling they have to leave their jobs due to pregnancy or maternity discrimination.
Business Minister Dean Russell said:
Being an expectant or new parent is already a hugely exciting yet anxious time without the added pressure of worrying whether your job is on the line.
By extending the UK’s world class workplace protections, today’s reforms will help to remove workplace discrimination and provide improved job security for employees at such an important and precious time in their lives.
The measures will be beneficial to businesses, helping to improve relations with employees and reducing a source of conflict that can be costly and time consuming.
Alongside these reforms the government is also working with the Pregnancy and Maternity Discrimination Advisory Board to update guidance so that this type of discrimination in the workplace continues to be stamped out.
Dan Jarvis MP for Barnsley Central said:
I am delighted that my Private Members’ Bill, the Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Bill has passed its second reading in Parliament and is now a step closer to becoming law.
At the heart of this Bill are tens of thousands of women pushed out of the workforce each year simply for being pregnant. I’m proud this new legislation will go some way to providing pregnant women and new mums greater protections in the workplace. I want to thank all those who’ve supported the Bill and I look forward to working with them to ensure it passes into law.
The measures form part of the government’s efforts to ensure more people stay in work and keep more of their pay packet, particularly with global risings costs. It comes at a time when there are more employees on payrolls than ever before – and with unemployment at an all-time low.
The press release issued by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on 21 October 2022.
Millions of people across the UK who are currently providing unpaid care to dependant family members or friends will be entitled to unpaid leave under new laws backed by the government today (Friday 21 October).
Around 2 million of those providing unpaid care are thought to be doing so while balancing work alongside their caring responsibilities. With no dedicated statutory leave entitlement for these informal carers currently in place, many have to resort to taking other forms of leave to ensure they can care for those dependent on them.
The Carer’s Leave Bill, introduced by Wendy Chamberlain MP and backed by the government, will introduce a new and highly flexible entitlement of one week’s unpaid leave per year for employees who are providing or arranging care.
Carer’s Leave will be available to eligible employees from the first day of their employment, meaning unpaid carers will be supported regardless of how long they’ve worked with their employer. Staff will be able to take the leave flexibly to suit their caring responsibilities and will not need to provide evidence of how the leave is used or who it will be used for, ensuring a smoother process for both businesses and their employees.
Business Minister Dean Russell said:
Carers play a vital role in our society, and it is only right that we support them so they can balance their caring responsibilities with their working life.
These reforms will not only better the lives of millions of unpaid carers across the UK, but also the friends and family that are dependent on their compassion every day.
Employees taking their carer’s leave entitlement will be subject to the same employment protections that are associated with other forms of family related leave, meaning they will be protected from dismissal or any detriment as a result of having taken time off.
By making it easier for people to support their loved ones, employers are likely to benefit from less staff turnover and a reduction in recruitment and training costs by retaining employees who previously would have been unable to balance their caring responsibilities and working life.
Wendy Chamberlain MP for North East Fife said:
I am delighted that my Carers Leave Bill has passed its second reading today. When passed this will give millions of carers employments rights for the first time ever. It is a landmark change in how businesses support their employees.
I want to thank the carers and businesses who have spoken to me in support of Carers Leave. It is clear that this policy is a win-win. Carers, without whom our society wouldn’t function, are supported to better balance work and home without burning out; and businesses have happier, more motivated workers with higher retention rates.
Helen Walker, Carers UK Chief Executive said:
We are thrilled that the government has supported the Carer’s Leave Bill at its successful second reading. Having worked to support carers in employment for years, Carers UK’s evidence shows Carer’s Leave would make a significant difference to unpaid carers’ lives, helping them stay in work and improving wellbeing by giving time off to attend appointments, arrange or provide care. As well as supporting families, it also makes business sense, helping retain skilled employees.
Today’s reforms form part of the government’s wider efforts to ensure more people stay in work with more employees on payrolls than ever before – and with unemployment at an all-time low.
The government consulted on proposals for a Carer’s Leave Bill in 2020, with a response to the consultation being published in September 2021.
![PRESS RELEASE : UK supports new UN sanctions in Haiti [October 2022]](https://www.ukpol.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/fco-150x150.png)
The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 21 October 2022.
On 21 November 2022, the UN established a new sanctions regime in Haiti in UN Security Council (UNSC) resolution 2653 (2022), adopted under Chapter VII of the UN Charter. The new UN sanctions regime has been set up to tackle the issues threatening the peace, stability and security of Haiti. We strongly support this UN action that moves Haiti closer to security and stability with a return to democratic processes as soon as possible.
The UNSC has added Jimmy Cherizier, one of Haiti’s most notorious gang leaders and leader of an alliance of Haitian gangs known as the “G9 Family and Allies” to the list of individuals and entities subject to the assets freeze, travel ban, and arms embargo set out in Security Council resolution 2653 (2022).
The UK strongly supports the introduction of a new UN Sanctions regime that will help to tackle the violence and insecurity in Haiti, which worsens wider challenges faced by the Haitian population. The listing of Cherizier is a positive development for the security and stability of Haiti and the Caribbean region. He will be denied access to external funding and assets, significantly reducing his ability to operate.
The speech made by Sue Ferns, the President of TUC, to the TUC Conference on 18 October 2022.
Vice-President, Frances, Paul, delegates:
It’s wonderful to address you as TUC President.
To be at our first in-person Congress for three years.
And I want to begin by thanking my two predecessors.
Two good friends of mine.
Gail Cartmail and Ged Nichols.
As Ged said, there had been 152 TUC Congresses.
And it was just his luck to preside over the first ever virtual one.
But Ged and Gail both did us proud.
We may have been apart – but they kept us together.
I also want to thank Mike – boss and friend – and everyone at Prospect for their support throughout the year.
I’m incredibly proud to be part of such a unique union.
Private and public, we represent professionals and specialists on whom we all depend:
The air traffic controllers keeping our skies safe.
Our members keeping the BBC on air in the face of threats to the future of public service broadcasting.
Scientists tackling our climate emergency.
Energy workers supplying our homes, schools and hospitals despite the extreme weather events across the seasons.
And I want to say a few words about our members in the civil service.
Committed public servants who helped get us through the pandemic and Brexit.
The scientists whose advice we all depended on, now openly derided by ministers.
Civil servants who found out in the Daily Mail about the proposals to cut 91,000 of their jobs.
Shortly followed by Liz Truss’s ill-conceived plans to introduce regional pay.
To the government, to the new Prime Minister, we say this:
Together we are strong. Together we are united. And together we will fight for our members every step of the way.
Friends, my year as President has been dominated by Putin’s war in Ukraine and of course by the cost-of-living crisis.
I’ve heard the Prime Minister is looking for the anti-growth coalition.
Yes, the Prime Minister whose budget crashed the economy.
After less than a fortnight in charge.
So, I say this to the Prime Minister, if you want to find the anti-growth coalition, then take a look in the mirror.
Because working people will be taking no lessons on growth from you.
But there have been many highlights too.
And none better than meeting trade unionists the length and breadth of the country.
During the COP26 in Glasgow, I joined the GMB picket line during the refuse collectors’ dispute.
Men and women who didn’t just care about the jobs they do and the communities they serve.
But just one example of workers helping to care for our environment, yet so often taken for granted.
Because it’s clear that it’s not just governments or businesses that will tackle climate change.
A fair transition simply will not happen unless workers and their unions have a real say in decision-making and are properly supported through a process of fair change.
And earlier this year, I travelled to Plymouth to unveil a plaque commemorating the return of the Tolpuddle Martyrs.
That was on the same day as P&O workers learned that they were sacked on Zoom.
A reminder that almost two centuries after Tolpuddle, workers still face many of the same challenges:
Bad bosses. Insecure work. A government that serves wealth, but attacks labour.
It’s worth remembering that during the pandemic, the government lauded key workers and worked with unions to deliver furlough.
Two years on, and it attacks those same workers for asking for a decent pay rise – waging a right-wing assault on our movement.
Well, I say this to the government: you’ve completely misjudged the public mood. But you don’t need to take my word for it – just look at the latest opinion polls.
The British people have rather more faith in trade unionists than they do in Tory politicians. And we will fight any attempt to restrict our employment and trade union rights.
When we marched on 18 June, we said there was more to follow.
And Congress, today we are clear:
Workers across the country have had enough and are fighting back.
Rail workers, bus drivers, posties, NHS staff, teachers and many others across the economy are joining together to send a clear message.
We know it’s not wages that are driving up inflation.
But where’s the scrutiny of profits and bonuses?
No more real term cuts – we demand fair pay now.
It’s about time the real wealth creators got a look in.
Despite promising to get wages rising, the government is once again treating us as the enemy within.
What do politicians expect? We’re an industrial movement doing our job. Fighting for decent pay for working people.
But Congress, we’re not perfect.
At the start of my year as President, I made tackling sexual harassment a priority.
We’ve done lots of good work. But there’s a lot still to do.
As we know, sexual harassment takes many forms – from physical harassment to verbal abuse and downloading obscene images at work.
But I want to make one thing clear: it doesn’t matter whether it’s Parliament or any other workplace, sexual harassment is never acceptable.
And that includes our movement too.
Most women in this hall will have experienced harassment at some point in our working lives.
It’s upsetting, shocking, humiliating.
It takes a toll on your self-confidence and wellbeing.
And it makes doing a tough job even tougher.
And delegates, it makes it harder for women to do our union job too.
That’s another reason why it has to stop.
It’s corrosive and ultimately it weakens us all.
So let’s be clear: all decent trade unionists share an interest in preventing harassment of any kind.
No woman, or man, should suffer in silence.
And when harassment happens, let’s commit to take action to call it out, stop it, once and for all.
Congress, the battle for women’s equality has reached a defining moment.
Women still earn less than men.
Our pensions lag behind.
And our rights are under attack.
The US Supreme Court’s decision on Roe v Wade rolls back 50 years of progress.
An assault not just on women in America, but women worldwide.
And today we are clear:
It’s not for the radical and religious right to decide what women can, and can’t, do.
It’s for women. And women alone.
I’m proud that too we’re making a difference globally.
Most importantly, by leading the fight against the far right.
Let’s hope Lula gives Bolsonaro the thumping defeat he so richly deserves in the final round of the Brazilian elections at the end of the month.
Congress, whether it’s fighting the imprisonment of trade unionists in Turkey.
Or supporting the struggle for justice in Palestine.
Let’s put our values of internationalism and solidarity into action.
As a trustee of TUC Aid, I’ve seen what we can achieve.
Supporting Iraqi women. Tackling sexual harassment in Brazil. And helping our Kenyan brothers and sisters win fair trade deals.
Congress, in this country and overseas, equality really must be at the heart of everything we do.
As the TUC’s Anti Racism Task Force has shown, we are at our best when we are boldest.
So let’s secure good jobs for all.
Address our epidemic of low-paid, low-skilled, low-productivity work.
And deliver genuine flexibility for everyone.
It’s great that flexible working is now so prominent on the agenda.
But the debate shouldn’t just be about middle-class professionals working from home.
That excludes the majority of the working population – including keyworkers.
It should be about delivering flexibility for all.
And that includes those in occupations traditionally denied the choices others take for granted.
And Congress, it doesn’t matter whether it’s flexible working, or equality, or higher pay, we know the best way to win for working people:
Stronger unions. Collective bargaining. And organisation.
And that really puts the onus on all of us to rebuild our movement.
Meeting the demands of a world which is changing fast.
Automation, technological change, the climate emergency – all demand stronger, not weaker, trade unions.
And so we must focus relentlessly on growing our membership.
Reaching out to today’s workers, in all our magnificent diversity.
And nowhere is that more important than where most people work, in the private sector.
Times may change, jobs may change, but workers still need a union to fight their corner.
Public or private, only strong, growing, representative unions can give working people hope.
The confidence to demand better.
And that to me is the essence of trades unionism.
Workers joining together to win fairness, justice and equality. To secure good work, good jobs.
Never did I imagine I would have the privilege of addressing this Congress as President.
Nor that, within my working life, women would assume their rightful place as leaders of our movement.
Frances, I imagine you’re going to hear a fair few tributes over the next two days.
You have been a brilliant general secretary.
Thank you for everything that you have achieved for working people.
You may have been our first woman general secretary, but mark my words, you will not be the last.
Finally I must say thank you to you, the trade union team.
The officers, reps and activists who make our movement what it is.
A unique democratic movement of, and for, working people.
So thank you delegates for everything you do.
Keep up the good work.
Be proud of our trade union values.
And let’s build for the future.
The speech made by Paul Nowak, the Deputy General Secretary of the TUC, to the TUC Conference on 18 October 2022.
President, Congress.
When I joined the GMB over 30 years ago, working part-time in ASDA, I never thought for one minute that I would have the honour and the privilege to be elected general secretary of the TUC.
So, I want to thank Congress for your support, and because trade unionism is always a collective endeavour, I want to thank every member, every rep, every full-time officer, every TUC staff member who has supported and helped me over the last 3 decades.
I promise to do what I can to justify that support, and to extend it to the next generation of reps and activists coming through, the people who are the lifeblood of our movement.
Now, last thing on a Wednesday afternoon is not the time for long speeches – and no doubt you will get to hear plenty of those from me in the months and years to come…so I just want to say three things.
First of all I want to sincerely thank Frances for everything she has done for the TUC.
Frances has been my good friend and colleague for over twenty years, so I am not an impartial observer, but I think it is absolutely right to acknowledge that she has been an outstanding leader of the TUC.
The first ever woman to lead our movement – and she won’t be the last – she has seen us through some incredibly difficult times.
· Ten years of hostile government, and austerity
· A vicious and vindictive anti-Trade Union Act
· Brexit
· And, of course, the pandemic and the cost of living crisis
Now, I could list all of her achievements in the face of those challenges, but let me just pick out one.
I have no doubt in my mind that if it wasn’t for Frances O’Grady, there would have been no furlough scheme.
It is thanks to her, that 12 million people saw their jobs and incomes supported during the dark days of the pandemic; 12 million people kept their livelihoods; 12 million people and their families were able to pay the bills.
Frances, thank for you for that and for EVERYTHING you have done over the last decade.
The second thing I want to say is this. I want my time leading the TUC to focus on one thing above all else.
Growing, diversifying and strengthening our movement.
More union members.
More union reps.
A genuinely active, confident, inclusive, vibrant and diverse movement – one that is as relevant to a young black woman working in digital or in a care home, as it is to this middle aged white bloke from Merseyside.
Think of everything we have debated so far this week.
· A £15 per hour minimum wage
· Rebuilding our public services, a proper industrial strategy
· A new deal for working people
· Decent employment rights and an end to fire and rehire
· Genuine equality and tackling racism and sexual harassment in our workplaces.
Our ability to deliver on all those things and so much more, depends on our ability to grow our movement.
· Only a stronger trade union movement can win disputes
· Only a stronger trade union movement can influence government & beat back hostile legislation
· And only a stronger trade union movement – indeed trade union and labour movement – can bring about the political change our members desperately need
We’ve grown the last four years out of five. That’s a start.
But let’s make sure that each and every year from now, we grow our membership, we expand our reps base, we extend collective bargaining – not waiting for political change, making that change happen here and now, workplace by workplace, dispute by dispute, campaign by campaign.
My last point is simply this.
Growing our movement will require a collective effort.
The TUC has and always be more than the general secretary, or the staff who work in Congress House, the regions and nations.
The TUC is its unions. You are the TUC.
48 unions. 5 and a half million members.
And if we are serious about growing our movement, we have to be serious about working together.
Not talking about working together, not passing resultions about working togther, actually working together.
· Supporting each other’s organising efforts
· Joint bargaining agendas that raise the bar for our members
· Sectoral co-ordination to stop employers playing one union off against another
· A shared political vision that inspires working people
· And in each and every dispute, standing by workers who take that difficult decision to strike, because their fight is our fight, and no worker should ever, will ever, stand alone.
That’s what will allow us to deliver on the things that matter to our members.
That’s what will enable us to win.
Not glorious defeats.
Not fighting the good fight but falling short.
Winning for working people.
That’s our job Congress.
Let’s work together,
Let’s fight together
Let’s win together.
The speech made by Frances O’Grady, the General Secretary of the TUC, on 18 October 2022.
Welcome to the TUC, our parliament for working people.
Represented, here in the Hall today, are millions of workers who keep the wheels of this country turning.
All they ask in return is respect, and fair pay.
And if it takes strike action so be it: we stand with you
So let’s hear it for:
Our incredible care assistants and NHS staff, rail and bus workers, dedicated posties, prison officers, call centre staff, dock workers, teachers, firefighters, university lecturers, civil servants and more…
Decent people who are honest and hardworking.
But, according to Liz Truss, British workers are layabouts, lacking graft, skill and application.
The Prime Minister believes that Britain’s poor productivity is down to the poor performance of workers.
That’s a bit rich from a PM whose own performance crashed the country
She didn’t even turn up for work yesterday!
And since her disastrous debut, we’ve had more U-turns than a malfunctioning Sat Nav.
And all this, after 12 long years of Conservative governments that have slashed, burned, and ripped off this country, something rotten.
While the sun was shining, the Tories didn’t mend the roof. They nicked the lead off it.
Let’s have a reminder of what’s happened under the Tories:
Which country has the worst investment in the G7?
The UK.
Which country has the worst wages growth in the G7?
Don’t need to tell workers this – the UK.
And which country has the worst economic growth in the G7?
Of course, the UK.
That’s your record, Prime Minister
That’s the country your party has been running for the past 12 years.
To be fair, under the Conservatives, some things are growing:
CEO pay – up.
Corporate profits – up.
Bankers’ bonuses – up.
And look what else:
The cost of mortgages.
NHS waiting lists.
Ambulance waiting times.
Child poverty.
Food banks.
Up. Up. Up.
That means more kids going to bed hungry.
More families afraid to put the heating on.
But there is a real plan for growth.
Trade unions want a growing economy that works for working people.
High investment, high skills, high wages.
Decent work, so workers don’t need to go on strike to defend their pay.
And we want a strong society that comes with growth, fairly-shared.
A well-funded NHS – schools – public services.
A safety net to help us all in a crisis.
No-one growing up, or growing old, in poverty.
A safe, secure, welcoming society.
And more than that – a country of music, culture, football, books and brilliant TV.
For over a decade, the TUC has made the case for investment, for R&D, for innovation, for skills.
To make things here in Britain.
To meet the challenge of net zero, with good green jobs.
And to harness the big gains of new tech, for all of us
We need an economy that rewards work – not wealth.
But under the Conservatives, working people have got poorer, while shareholders have got richer.
We’re in the longest squeeze on real wages since Napoleonic times.
And if ministers and employers keep hammering pay packets at the same rate, UK workers are on course to suffer two decades – TWENTY YEARS – of lost living standards.
Over the next three years alone:
Real earnings are set to fall by ANOTHER £4,000
We have got to stop the rot.
Families can’t afford to tighten their belts anymore.
They’re at breaking point.
Just look at that disastrous mini-budget.
Only a month ago.
I say this to Liz Truss: Your budget wasn’t pro-growth. It was pro-greed.
Tax cuts for the rich, with no plan for growth at all.
That’s why the markets got spooked.
That’s why the economy tanked.
The PM may have dumped Kwasi Kwarteng.
And is now hiding behind Jeremy Hunt
Or maybe under a desk?
But she can’t duck this:
We don’t trust her government with our economy.
Livelihoods are on the line.
Some say Liz Truss must go.
I think they’re wrong.
This whole rotten Tory government must go.
The Tories are toxic.
It’s time for change.
We need a general election now
We know who creates real wealth in this country.
It’s not hedge fund managers who made a mint by betting on the pound crashing.
The real wealth creators are the people of this country.
Jeremy Hunt may be the new face at No 11
But it’s still the same old story
Lift the cap on bankers’ bonuses
Drive down public servants’ pay
Handouts for the wealthy and big business
Cuts to UC and benefits
Give to the rich.
Take from everyone else.
Robin Hood in reverse.
(Shurwood Forest fracked)
Working people are not fooled by trickledown economics.
It’s the old Tory money trick.
Austerity means NHS waiting lists grow and businesses go bust.
When workers get more money, they spend it.
When the rich get more money, they offshore it.
So, I have a message for Liz Truss:
Working people are proud of the jobs we do;
We work hard
We work the longest hours in Europe.
Yet, thanks to your party’s 12 years in government, millions are struggling to make ends meet.
We don’t need lectures on working harder.
This country needs a proper plan for fairer, greener growth.
The prime minister must answer another question:
if you really care about hard graft and performance, how come you gave Jacob Rees Mogg a job?
A man best known for lying horizontal on the Commons’ benches.
Who aims to make life even harder on the shop floor.
He wants workers’ rights, that came from the EU, stripped from the statute book.
Important rights like holiday pay.
Time off for mums and dads.
And safe limits on working time.
But the minister for the nineteenth century needs to wake up.
The TUC has just asked people who voted Conservative in the last election what THEY think the government should do.
81 per cent of Tory voters say:
Protect our rights at work.
And more, we demand action to tackle corporate gangsters.
Never forget P&O.
A prime example of everything wrong with UK labour laws.
Loyal crew sacked without a second thought.
Shameless bosses admitting they’d broken the law.
And ministers letting them get away with it
Worse rights at work won’t rebuild Britain.
Britain only does well, when working people do well.
We demand a new deal for workers.
From Tolpuddle onwards, the establishment has always seen workers organising as a threat.
And, yes, we are.
We’re a threat to casino capitalism.
A threat to the notion that you can divide workers
A threat to exploitation and low pay.
So just when the citizens of this country are in despair;
when key workers’ kids are going to school with holes in their shoes;
And young families are worried sick about the mortgage;
This government’s top priority is attacking the right to strike to make it harder to win fair pay.
A cynical effort to distract from the chaos they have caused.
But I say this: if ministers want to pick a fight with us, we are more than ready
Today I give them notice:
We’ve already taken legal counsel.
We know you’re in breach of international law.
And trade deals that enshrine labour standards.
So, read my lips, we will see you in court.
This winter looks set to be a tough one.
We face an emergency made in Downing Street.
The lights could go out all over Britain.
Even with energy prices capped – average bills are set to double.
Other costs have gone through the roof too: Childcare. Food. Filling up the car.
No-one has cash to spare.
With inflation at 10%, we don’t need wage restraint.
It’s time for profit restraint.
Taxpayers helped business with their bills.
Now it’s time to make business play their part.
No layoffs this winter.
No boardroom bonanzas.
And no shareholder sprees.
Put the cap back on the bankers’ bonuses.
Let’s have a bigger windfall tax on greedy energy giants.
And don’t just bail out them out – bring them into public ownership.
And more:
Protect benefits against inflation.
Invest in public services.
And give us stronger workers’ rights
Our nation of grafters have earned a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work.
That means a £15 minimum wage, as soon as possible.
Fair pay agreements to get wages rising for everyone
And it’s time to do right by the people who’ve done us all proud
They got us through the pandemic – and we owe them
Give public servants a real pay rise now
And on November 2nd, from every corner of the UK, we will rally to Westminster
And if this shower of a government is still clinging to power
We will demand a general election
We are trade unionists.
Just as when the TUC proposed furlough at the start of the pandemic, we’ve got answers to the problems Britain faces.
We’ve seen the difference our movement makes right around the world.
From Amazon to Starbucks: growing membership, winning deals
Proof that solidarity works.
Backed up by new laws from progressive governments from Spain to New Zealand
We hope soon, Brazil too.
Governments who know that good jobs and rising wages are the route to a decent life.
Change can come – we can build it.
Remember the kids who save half their school dinner to take home for tea.
Remember pensioners too poor to keep warm, and workers who can’t afford to get sick, while NHS waiting times soar.
None of this is inevitable.
These are political choices.
Made by politicians.
And we can vote them out.
As unions, our job is to win now and every day.
The bigger our movement, the stronger we are.
So, in formally moving the General Council statement, let’s reach out and tell workers why they should join
Trade unionism is the reasonable notion that your boss doesn’t have all the answers.
That working people together have a voice and power. And how that changes everything.
We are the people who brought you the weekend, the eight-hour day, equal pay.
We’re proud of our diversity.
Our wonderful President Sue Ferns.
And leading our fight against racism, Dr Patrick Roach.
We stand up for our class – a multiethnic, multiracial, working class of men and women.
In cities, towns and the countryside too.
We’re for all working people.
Yes, we have members on railways, in shops and factories.
But also in Uber, Deliveroo and Amazon
Whatever our background, race or religion everyone deserves a decent job, a pension and respect.
It wasn’t wages or workers that caused this crisis.
And we refuse to let workers pay for it.
People ask me: will the TUC coordinate strike action this winter?
And I say: We already are.
When workers are left with no choice but to vote for strike action for decent pay, I say:
Bring it on.
For the last ten years, I’ve been proud to lead the TUC.
And I’m passing the torch to my comrade, the brilliant Paul Nowak.
At heart, I believe that trade unionism is about friendship
Friendship between workers transforms what is possible.
Congress: we have hope.
Hope in young workers joining unions.
Workers backing workers.
Black workers and White workers, standing together.
Let’s take that message to workplaces and communities, in every corner of the country.
We can build a better world.
We will fight for our class.
And, together, we all win.
Solidarity.