The Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer, has this morning addressed delegates at the Trade Union Congress in Brighton.
In doing so he reiterated that there were different jobs in the Labour movement, and there was a split between the role of the trade unions, and the role of the Labour Party leader.
He made a point of stressing how the Labour Party under his leadership would continue to approach the current bout of union strikes “as if it was in government”. This is code for Sir Keir refusing to endorse any current industrial action.
Nonetheless, Starmer’s appearance at the TUC this morning, appeared to be generally well received by union delegates.
In a subsequent question and answer session, Sir Keir attacked the online retailer Amazon, chastising the company for its failure to recognize the GMB Union and calling upon the company to have a “unionised workforce”.
Responding to Starmer’s comments on Amazon, the GMB General Secretary, Gary Smith said, “It’s great to hear from the man who is on course to be Prime Minister that he thinks Amazon should recognise GMB as the trade union for the company’s workers”. The GMB has previously been critical of Amazon’s pay levels and health and safety record.
Starmer’s earlier speech was scarce on policy announcements, but heavy on principles and personal anecdotes. Within it, the Labour leader referenced the experiences of his sister who is a care worker.
Detailing the long hours that his sister works, Starmer said, “The fight for fair pay, for fair work, to make our economy work for everyone, is personal for me”, adding, “If you don’t back people like my sister, don’t be surprised if you get 12 years of stagnant growth”.
Attacking the concept of trickle-down economics, Sir Keir Starmer said, “Working people will not be better off, because we make the rich richer. It is pure dogma. The world has moved on from these discredited ideas”.
Continuing Sir Keir Starmer said, “It is not just the privileged few that grow Britain’s economy. The Tories are so wrong about this”.
As would be expected in any speech by a Labour Party leader to the Trade Union Congress, Sir Keir Starmer focussed the bulk of his remarks on employment policy and industrial relations.
Receiving a standing ovation from delegates mid speech, the Labour leader said the party would oppose and repeal any future government restrictions on the right to strike. He also committed to the repeal of the 2016 Trade Union Act.
Stating that the problem with the UK economy was “too many” low paid and insecure jobs, Starmer claimed that there would be ‘no more one sided flexibility’.
He reiterated that a future Labour government would extend parental leave, end fire and rehire, ban zero hour contracts, introduce the mandatory reporting of ethnicity pay gaps, and have statutory sick pay for all .
The reception received by Sir Keir today contrasts with the difficulties that he was experiencing in his relations with the trade union movement just 12 months ago. At last year’s Labour Party conference, the leading trade union, BFAWU, disaffiliated from the Labour Party.
