Workers could ‘turn their backs’ on Labour, Unite warns

A senior union leader has accused the Government of attacking some of the poorest in society, including pensioners and the disabled, warning that workers could “turn their backs” on Labour.

Sharon Graham, general secretary of Unite, said unions had welcomed the new Labour Government to end years of Tory “chaos”, the “madness” of austerity and to end workers being at the back of the queue.

She told the TUC Congress in Brighton that the country was “crying out” for change.

She went on: “I do not understand how a Labour Government have been attacking some of poorest in our society – pensioners, the disabled – whilst leaving the super-rich totally untouched.

“What the hell are Labour doing? Yes, Britain is broken. Yes, the Tories are to blame.

“But Labour is in government now and they cannot keep making everyday people pay.

“Different choices must be made or workers and the working class will turn their backs on Labour.”

The Unite leader highlighted the long running strike by bin workers in Birmingham, accusing the Labour council, backed by the Labour Government, of using Margaret Thatcher’s anti-trade union laws to try and “break” picket lines.

“Let’s remind ourselves what this dispute is about – workers that woke up one morning and told to accept an £8,000 pound a year pay cut – a quarter of their pay.

“This will mean homes gone. Mortgages and rent that cannot be paid.

“Workers out there fighting for their families and being told by Labour that the council could not afford the cost to end the dispute.

“This is the beginning of workers in local government paying for incompetent decisions, years of austerity and council debt.

“Make no mistake, if they get away with this in Birmingham it will spread.”

Ms Graham said any fines Unite faced over the strike would be paid out of the union’s affiliation to the Labour party.