uniteBUILDINGWORKER Comment GOVT:


Sharon Graham General Secretary


Unite general secretary Sharon Graham writes


Whether in Britain, Northern Ireland or the Republic of Ireland, workers and communities have paid the price, crisis after crisis.


In the UK, after 14 years of Conservative mismanagement, there’s now a Labour government who must grasp this opportunity and deliver for workers.


Let’s make no mistake, our nations are broken. Our public services and industries have been decimated, not only by years of austerity, but by disastrous under-investment dating back decades. If Labour is to remedy this, they will need to be bold. We need investment for public services and to upgrade and build infrastructure.


And the money is there. The top 50 families in Britain have more wealth than half our population and the profit margins of the average British firm have rocketed by 30 per cent since before the pandemic.


In the Republic of Ireland some estimates show total profits growing by up to 50 per cent from 2019 to 2023. A one per cent tax on the wealthiest one per cent would deliver an immediate and ongoing funding boost for our public services. That is why Unite is leading the call for a wealth tax on the super-rich and a tax on excess profits in the UK.


Investment to upgrade and expand our infrastructure, such as our energy and transport systems, and deliver much needed local authority housing is socially necessary, economically beneficial and should create good jobs across our regions and nations.


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Labour can also make a difference to those jobs. The New Deal for Working People has some important provisions, but it was very disappointing that they added loopholes on fire and rehire and zero-hours contracts. That was one reason that we couldn’t endorse the manifesto.


In the Republic of Ireland, the government is dragging its heels on implementing the EU Directive on Adequate Minimum Wages and vindicating workers’ right to bargain collectively.


So, we will continue to hold ministers to account and push back against any further watering down, especially on recognition and access to workplaces for trade unions.


We all know how important it is to have trade unions on site everywhere and why we have agreements such as HS2 Old Oak Common.


Sectors such as construction demonstrate why we need stronger trade unions to remove threats of insecure work


and exploitation – it’s not just a matter of higher pay, but of life and death.


Governments come and go, but our priority remains rebuilding the power of the trade union movement. Organising in our workplaces and our communities is the only way to break the power of bad bosses and profiteers.


Since I was elected as general secretary, we’ve put £450m (€540m) back into workers’ pockets through successful disputes. That work will not stop no matter who is in the office of Prime Minister or Taoiseach.


find out more See UNITElive.org and unitetheunion.org for the latest Unite news.


Mark Thomas


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