Remain united, remain strong

In a dynamic keynote address at policy conference yesterday (July 11), Unite general secretary Len McCluskey emphasised the importance of unity at a time in which, he said, “our country is riven by the EU referendum.”

“Our movement is divided – bitterly and unnecessarily,” he said. “Jobs are in jeopardy, and long-established rights could be under threat.

“Millions of working people are looking for urgent answers to the crisis engulfing us. Our members and many besides are looking for a way forward.”

He pointed to the “car factories and steel plants now under a shadow, our oil and gas industry being ravaged,” as well as our “threatened public service and finance sectors,” among others who need the support of Unite more now than ever before.

Speaking on the situation post-Brexit, McCluskey condemned the “disgusting upsurge of racist attacks.”

“Unite stands shoulder-to-shoulder in unconditional solidarity with all workers, wherever they come from, now facing abuse and violence in our country,” he said.

McCluskey hailed the main victories Unite has had this year, including securing millions in compensation for blacklisted workers, campaigning against the EU-US trade deal TTIP, and successfully pressuring restaurants into changing their tipping policies.

He pointed to Unite’s successful leverage campaigns as well as its political campaign against the Trade Union Bill which helped defeat some of the bill’s worst measures in Parliament.

He paid tribute to assistant general secretary Steve Turner and officer Luke Primarolo who gave evidence in the House of Commons on behalf of Sports Direct workers who face shocking exploitation and abuse under the retail giant’s work practices which have been condemned as “Victorian”.

McCluskey reaffirmed Unite’s intention this year to continue with its Work Voice Pay campaign by “sharpening our collective focus on the workplace with a broad industrial strategy for Unite as a whole, more than the sum of our industrial parts.”

Pointing out that no union in Europe devotes more resources to organising than Unite does, McCluskey hailed Unite as a “growing union” that “moves forward and delivers”.

Construction union UCATT’s recent decision to seek to transfer into Unite is part and parcel of Unite’s ethos of growth and solidarity, he noted.

McCluskey closed by emphasising what sets Unite apart – its ability to “reach out into the community” and “bring those pushed onto the margins of society into our movement”, as well as its “fighting back culture” that’s “entrenched”.

“We reach agreements where possible and fight for our members where necessary,” he said. “We debate difference and we cherish unity.

“We stand proud in the British, Irish and international labour movement.”

“And we do all this because of you, you here in this hall and thousands of our workplace representatives around the country,” he added. “We have much still to do my friends, and we will do it together.”

To cheers and a rousing standing ovation, McCluskey concluded, “While we remain united, we will remain strong.”