uniteLANDWORKER Comment Now deliver
Sharon Graham General Secretary
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham writes
After 14 years of Conservative mismanagement, where workers and communities have paid the price for crisis after crisis, Labour has won a landslide majority. They must now grasp this opportunity and deliver for workers.
Let’s make no mistake: Britain is 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.
That means proper investment in industry and renewing our public services, especially in rural areas where services are often non-existent. The last Conservative government was the first in history where overall living standards declined. Workers desperately need a pay rise.
It has been quickly forgotten that our food and agricultural members risked their lives throughout the pandemic to feed the nation. And what was the thanks they got? Years of sky-high inflation and a brutal cost-of-living crisis fuelled by corporate greed. Unite research has shown that profit margins across the economy have increased by a massive 30% since before the pandemic, with the big supermarkets being some of the worst offenders.
Labour can make a difference. Their New Deal for Working People has some important provisions, including access to workplaces for trade unions, but it
was very disappointing that Labour added loopholes surrounding fire and rehire and zero-hours contracts. That was one reason that we couldn’t endorse the manifesto. Our members at Oscar Mayer are currently being threatened with fire and rehire and this practice needs to be completely banned. No ifs, no buts.
In the meantime, we will continue to organise to deliver good pay and conditions across the sector. With the impacts of climate change already here, this means continuing to campaign for a maximum working temperature. We also need to ensure that all workers have access to the necessary PPE and we will continue to develop the combines to establish sector minimum standards and stop undercutting.
Everyone knows that exploitation in this sector disproportionately impacts migrant workers and I am proud that our members are highlighting this issue at the upcoming Tolpuddle festival.
For all the positives that we hope for in having a change of government, 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 £430m back into workers’ pockets through successful disputes. That work will not stop no matter whose name is on the door at Number 10.
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4 uniteLANDWORKER Summer 2024uniteLANDWORKER Spring 2024
Peter Everard Smith
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