Michael Leahy urges Labour not to underestimate the power of passionate politics in shaping its programme
AS THE political conference season opens with the TUC in Brighton, you can guarantee that the speculation surrounding the Labour leadership will step up a notch. The press pack will be sniffing for stories around the bars and fringes of Congress, waiting for the slightest hint of union dissent – as inevitably there will be – that could be seen as a call for a change of Labour leader and Prime Minister.
More importantly, this year’s Congress takes places against the backdrop of the effects that a global economic slowdown is having on working people. Trade unions are intimately connected to these people – they are our members. As they feel the pinch from the forces that are driving up food and fuel prices, the bread-and-butter work of unions becomes even more essential.
Unions will continue to take action on behalf of their members: negotiating hard on pay deals that can go some way to alleviating the rising cost of living, as well as calling for practical improvements in terms and conditions that, in these harder economic times, can at least make working life easier.
Unions are all about linking day-to-day issues to the bigger picture. This will be demonstrated time and again at this year’s TUC Congress. My union, Community, will be raising the vital issue of health and safety. For instance, our members in betting shops run the daily risk of verbal or physical abuse from disgruntled punters. Community is calling for minimum standards to be put in place on training, staffing and security in betting shops. Action on this would not only transform the working lives of our members, it would also help to address the wider issues of anti-social behaviour spilling out onto the streets and problem gambling in our communities.
We will also be championing the work of environmental reps – those volunteers who care so passionately about greening their workplaces. Their crucial work deserves the same status as that of health and safety reps. Their efforts can make a big difference when meeting the challenges posed by climate change.
Just as trade unions continue to do, so Labour needs to rediscover its ability to address everyday concerns while simultaneously tackling the bigger issues. A windfall tax on the vast profits of energy companies that ensures the Government meets its child poverty goals would be a good place to start.
As visions of the 1980s appear in our minds when we choke on the Tories’ new claims to be the champions of fairness, Labour’s record must be robustly defended. But neither the future of the party nor the Government can be ensured simply by raising a spectre of the past. Young people entering the modern workforce are not Margaret Thatcher’s children. They are Labour’s – and are all the better for it. We need a clearer vision of their future, but we also need action to tackle their problems in their present.
Michelle Obama made one of the most eloquent and powerful speeches at the recent Democratic Convention in the United States. She articulated the argument for change and championed the cause of women, black and working people. The First Lady in waiting demonstrated the power of passionate politics. That should be a lesson for us all. In the coming years, we must have the confidence that Labour has the passion and vision for the future. Perhaps we need to start repeating Barack Obama’s mantra to one another: “Yes we can”.
Michael Leahy is general secretary of Community
