feature Tolpuddle Martyrs’ Festival


ANOTHER WORLD IS POSSIBLE


The trades union rebirth is truly in hand says Unite’s GS Sharon Graham


Unite general secretary Sharon Graham certainly rallied the crowds in July at the Tolpuddle Martyrs’ Festival. She received huge cheers as she welcomed people to the event saying, “This is the first time in 14 years that Tolpuddle has met without the cloud of the Tories hanging over us.


“Friends, as we gather here, almost 200 years on from the Tolpuddle Martyrs, we face the exact same sacrifices of those that came before.


“The martyrs did not just stand up against pay cuts. They fought for their dignity. They fought for their families. They fought for a future. They fought for the collective good under unrelenting pressure, so that basic human decency was not sacrificed at the altar of the rich and powerful.”


The general secretary told the crowd how the Tolpuddle Martyrs’ fight in 1834 was the same fight Unite continues today, saying that the Martyrs knew, “that forming a union is about more than just pay.


10 uniteLANDWORKER Autumn 2024


“It’s about the power to make real, lasting change. The martyrs understood the absolute power of the Union. They knew the hard miles of organising in workplaces and our communities.”


Before the speech she led the annual march through the Dorset village, to the sounds of the Unite Brass Band, alongside family descendants of the Martyrs and trade union members.


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