‘Change is winning’

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham’s address to policy conference drew thunderous applause and a standing ovation on Wednesday (July 9).

Sharon said how proud she was to have led the UK’s biggest union over the last three and a half years, as she highlighted what Unite has achieved under her leadership.

This has included double-digit pay rises for thousands of members after winning countless disputes. These wins, Sharon said, were thanks in large part to the union’s war chest, with £55m paid in strike pay under her leadership. This has put nearly half a billion pounds back into the pockets of workers, she said.

“Collective bargaining is the tried and tested way of pushing up pay,” Sharon noted. “Change is winning – standing together to win.

“Employers know under my watch that we fight for workers as our first priority and Unite members will never be starved back to work.”

Sharon went on to highlight the tough stance she has taken with Labour, with no more “blank cheques” for the party under her leadership. Sharon’s approach, which she called “leading in the room”, has meant that Unite has secured a number of U-turns and policy wins from Labour as a direct result of the union’s influence.

Some of these have included a U-turn on the Winter Fuel Allowance, extra funding for defence, a commitment to reducing industrial energy costs, “loosening the straitjacket” of Labour’s fiscal rules, full recognition for equalities reps and stopping a tax on final salary pension schemes, among other wins. 

Under Sharon’s leadership, recognition agreements have skyrocketed. Reps now have unprecedented mental health support, with a new hotline opened exclusively for reps who need help. This, she said, is the first of its kind – no other union in the world has done this.

Unite has also expanded its Work Voice Pay initiative, which gives reps access to forensic accounts of their employers to help them build successful pay claims. Work Voice Pay is now available for the first time as a mobile app.

Sharon denounced Labour for failing to deliver for working people after watering down a number of commitments including pledges to ban fire and rehire and zero hours contracts, as well as a promise to renationalise energy.

She condemned the attacks on the elderly and disabled, with cuts to the Winter Fuel Allowance and disability benefits. She said these are choices Labour has deliberately taken, instead of choosing to tax the wealthy.

“Labour are making false choice after false choice,” she said. “In 1945 Labour promised, jobs, homes, the creation of a welfare state and a national health service. Labour in 2025 has shied away from those bold choices and has made wrong choices. Like the decision to pit pensioners against workers. People do not understand – I do not understand – how a Labour government can cut the Winter Fuel Allowance to pensioners and leave the super-rich totally untouched.

“They have not learned one single thing, with the choice to attack disabled people. Even after the U-turn they are going to create a two-tier system that is divisive and sinister. Younger and newer disabled people will be disadvantaged. What is Labour doing? Why are they making these choices?”

Sharon paid tribute to striking Birmingham bin workers, who have been treated atrociously by a Labour council intent on cutting their pay by up to £8,000. After months of striking, the council leadership continues to refuse to negotiate.

Sharon went on to condemn Labour’s stance on Palestine and reiterated Unite’s position.

“Let’s be really clear – what is happening in Gaza and the West Bank is a genocide and war crimes. No ifs, no buts,” she said.

Sharon looked back on a number of campaigns the union has launched during her tenure, including a campaign to protect jobs in the oil and gas sector, called ‘No Ban without a Plan’ and a campaign in Ireland to support the ‘Murphy 4’, among others.

Reflecting on her tenure as leader so far, she said she was proud to be a “workers’ general secretary” and the union’s first-ever female general secretary.

Looking towards the future, Sharon outlined initiatives the union is now undertaking, including a push for more coordinated industrial action, as well as a new discrimination unit that will support members if they’re discriminated against at work.

 “Together we will forge a new vehicle for our class – a strong, independent workers’ union; a union that follows its own plan,” Sharon noted. “An authentic voice of the working class and for the working class. And a union that understands that left politics without industrial organisation is a cause without a class.”

Concluding to a standing ovation, Sharon said, “This is our mission; this is our moment. So let’s lift up our heads, as well as our banners. Together, let’s make that change, and prepare our class for the fights to come. See you on the picket line – solidarity.”

By Hajera Blagg

Photos by Mark Thomas