The following is a rough draft of General Secretary of the TUC's address to the Conference
Thanks Keren
And thanks for inviting me to speak.
It is a pleasure to bring greetings and solidarity from the TUC.
And let me congratulate Keren on her appointment as Community’s President, the second woman in a row to hold this key post.
Let me applaud her hard work as a union learning rep over in Port Talbot.
And let me also thank Tracey Clarke for her excellent service as Keren’s predecessor.
Well, these are certainly interesting times.
And the past few weeks have seen some crucial developments.
At long last an agreement reached on agency workers – and not before time.
A new package developed to right the wrongs of the 10 pence tax debacle.
And, perhaps most strikingly, an important new engagement signalled with Europe.
Yes, you guessed: Everton qualifying for next season’s UEFA Cup.
Let me begin by applauding Community for the solid progress it has made since you last met two years ago.
Thanks to Mick’s leadership, the work of senior officers, and the dedication of you, the union’s activists, you have continued to show just what modern, forward-looking trade unionism can achieve.
And your far-reaching modernisation programme is already bearing fruit.
Project Olympus may sound like some sinister plot from a James Bond film, but through pioneering initiatives like the new Member Service Centre, it is redefining your union for the twenty-first century.
Building on the impressive momentum you have built up in recent years.
That’s why you have been able to take trade unionism into new areas, from betting shops to charities, showing there are no longer any
no-go zones for our movement.
That’s why you have been at the forefront of the trade union skills revolution, with your network of 230 learning reps.
And that’s why in the past year you have attracted NUDAGO and the British Union of Social Work Employees into the fold.
So there’s much for you to be proud of.
But nothing should give you greater pride than your campaign to secure pensions justice for workers who needed it most.
A five year campaign alongside UNITE – which the TUC was proud to support – that involved defeating the government in the European Court of Human Rights.
And a campaign that won a famous victory last December, giving 125,000 working people – including your members at Allied Steel & Wire, Kaye Aluminium, Totectors and UNSCO Steel – the best possible Christmas present imaginable.
Financial security where once they faced ruin.
Security on par with the Pensions Protection Fund that will deliver 90 per cent of expected retirement benefits.
A £12 billion commitment that means no worker will be left high and dry if their employer goes bust.
That is a fantastic achievement; that is our movement at its best.
Proof that working together gets results; proof that it is through collective action that the interests of individual workers are best advanced.
But as we celebrate the progress of the past year, nor should we be blind to the mighty challenges that remain.
And before I address some of these, I just wanted to add my support to your campaign to overturn the injustices being faced by some of your colleagues across the world.
Not just the terrible situation in Colombia – but also the emerging crisis in Mexico.
As you know better than me, the Mexican government is attempting to systematically destroy the country’s biggest mining and steel union through a campaign of kidnap, torture and violence – including at least one murder.
Indeed its leader Napoleon Gomez Urrutia has been forced to flee the country after he and his family received death threats.
So today let us send a message to Napoleon and his members.
That they are not alone in their struggle.
That they can count on the support and solidarity of the British trade union movement.
And that none of us will rest until justice is secured.
What is happening in Mexico, of course, is a stark reminder that the industries you organise in are fundamentally global.
And as you know better than me, that poses all kinds of challenges for the people you represent.
Globalisation is a certainly a potent and unstoppable force.
Indeed the rise of China and India is a political and economic reality that is here to stay.
Exemplified, of course, by last year’s £6.7 billion takeover of Corus by the Indian giant Tata.
As one of the more progressive companies in Asia – with a decent track record on employment relations stretching back almost a century – this could well be good news.
The devil, of course, will be in the detail: in the company’s plans for investment, for pensions, and for working practices.
But while Corus seems to have a positive future ahead of it, unfortunately the same cannot be said for other parts of our manufacturing industry.
UK manufacturing continues to struggle – last year, employment in the sector fell below three million for the first time in a century.
But it doesn’t have to be like this.
As our neighbours on the continent have shown, there is no reason why we cannot sustain a vibrant, successful manufacturing base.
Like Community, the TUC believes manufacturing is absolutely vital to Britain’s future.
Not just as a consequence of the £150 billion of exports it generates, not just because of the skilled jobs it sustains, but also in terms of the communities it supports.
That’s why we want the government to develop an intelligent industrial strategy that really delivers for manufacturers in key sectors.
And I welcome comments made by the Chancellor Alistair Darling last week, signalling a potential change of direction in this area.
One thing’s for sure.
We will not be able to retain our position as the world’s fifth-largest economy through financial services alone.
Indeed our over-dependence on the City of London has left us particularly vulnerable to the economic contagion spreading from the United States.
While the full effects of the credit crunch have yet to be felt, ordinary working people are already feeling the pinch from rising food, fuel and energy bills.
And that’s one of the reasons why the political climate is now more difficult than at any point in the past 15 years.
From the meltdown of May 1st to last week’s political train wreck in Crewe, the Labour government is stuttering badly.
And Community’s most famous member, it seems, needs all the support he can get.
Now none of us here would underestimate just what Labour has delivered since it came to power.
Consistently high levels of employment, where once three million and more went without work.
Record investment in our schools and hospitals, where once there was only public squalor.
And a decade of economic growth, where once we oscillated between boom and bust.
All this, and more – from the introduction of tax credits through to the historic pledge to cut child poverty – we welcome.
But there is always a nagging feeling that the government could and should have done better.
Two millions workers remain trapped in vulnerable employment, exploited by unscrupulous employers and agencies.
Affordable housing is still in chronically short supply, especially council housing.
And the gap between rich and poor has become a yawning chasm.
A big part of the problem, it seems to me, is that the government has become rather too close to big business, to the City and to the wealthy.
That’s why a super rich elite has been allowed to float free from the rest of our society.
That’s why UK plc and its closest friends get away with £25 billion of legal tax avoidance each year.
And that’s why the 10 pence tax saga proved so damaging.
Frankly, you don’t need a PhD in Political Science to work out the implications of all of this.
Voters, it seems, have lost sense of what a Labour government is for.
To stand any chance of securing a historic fourth term, that’s got to change and change fast.
Labour must articulate a bold, imaginative policy agenda based once again on the values of equality, fairness, and social justice.
The good news is this is now beginning to happen.
There were some welcome announcements in the Prime Minister’s statement on draft legislation two weeks ago – on affordable housing, flexible working, a new right to request training, and a new Equality Bill.
Then there was the £2.7 billion package to compensate the losers of April’s tax changes, and give everyone else a bit of a helping hand.
But perhaps most significantly of all, after six years of stalemate, agreement has now been reached to deliver equal treatment to agency workers.
This is a massive step forward – a hugely symbolic development in the battle to root out one of the biggest unfairnesses in our labour market.
Meeting a widespread public demand for change.
And I hope the agreement on agency workers will be seen not just as a real turning point in the fight for workplace justice, but in Labour’s strategic thinking too.
So be in no doubt: these are vitally important times.
At stake: the political complexion of Britain for the decade ahead.
But whatever happens in Westminster, whatever happens in the next general election, we in the trade union movement must stiffen our resolve to address the big challenges facing us.
Ensuring we are well placed not just to advance the interests of our members, but to reach out to a new generation of trade unionists.
In short: rebuilding trade union organisation where it is needed most.
And I believe your union is already leading the way.
You are showing that trade unionism is as much about our communities as our workplaces.
You are showing that trade unionism can prosper where global economic change is at its most profound.
And you are showing that trade unionism can modernise to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century.
So my message today –
Keep up the good work.
Keep fighting for your members.
And keep making a difference.
Thanks for listening.