Unions will work with ministers to rebuild country after Tory ‘chaos’ – TUC boss

Unions are planning to work closely with the new Government to rebuild the country after 14 years of Tory “chaos”, according to the leader of the TUC.

General secretary Paul Nowak will say on Monday that the trade union movement stands ready to help ministers deliver for workers.

In a speech to the TUC Congress in Brighton, he will tell delegates: “We know Keir Starmer and this Government have the interests of working people at heart in the way that the Conservatives never did, and never will.

“But no government can put right 14 years of Tory chaos overnight, and no government can take on the job of rebuilding this country on its own.

“Politics isn’t a spectator sport. We need to roll up our sleeves and get involved.

“So, let’s pledge today. We will work with the new government to rebuild our public services.

“We’ll play our part in recasting Britain’s industrial future, and above all we will work with the Government to face down those on the right who wish to sow division and discord in our communities.”

Mr Nowak will say that unions have helped rebuild the country and bring communities together throughout history and are ready to do so again.

Highlighting the role unions can play in easing social tensions after the summer’s riots, he will say: “We should never forget that the overwhelming majority of people in this country are decent, kind and are generous.

“They’re the ones who rebuilt a wall outside a mosque, who swept up the debris after the riots, and who gathered not to hate, but to show their love and their grief for the victims.

“So I want this movement to be clear. We will always stand with the decent majority and we will always work to bring communities together.

“Our movement is rooted in communities across the country. On the shopfloor, in the office, the works canteen, the community centre, the high-rises and the high streets.”

He will add that the trade union message is going to be taken into more workplaces, working with good employers to secure decent jobs.

“I want to put every anti-union, anti-worker boss on notice. If you think you can get away with paying poverty wages, forcing people into work when they’re sick and firing and rehiring your staff – think again.

“We’re going to take on the bad bosses and we are going to win.”

Shadow business secretary Kevin Hollinrake said it was “amazing how these union bosses claim to be so knowledgeable about how to run a private sector workforce without ever having actually employed anyone they have paid out of their own pocket”.

He also claimed Labour’s planned workers’ rights package would “drown businesses in red tape, encourage unions to hold employers to ransom and slow growth”.

He added: “If they had spent more time consulting businesses, particularly the owners of small and medium-sized businesses who truly power our economy rather than just their union paymasters maybe they would think twice.

“Labour must listen to the chorus of opposition from businesses, not just their union paymasters, and change course now.”