13 Sep 2011

Miliband heckled as major strikes loom

Ed Miliband is heckled at the TUC conference where, as Economics Editor Faisal Islam writes, Britain’s biggest unions are poised to call for a “general strike” over public sector pensions.

The Labour leader was heckled when he told the conference that public sector unions were wrong to strike over pension reform. Some delegates shouted out “Shame!” when he criticised the strikes by civil servants and teachers in June. But he drew applause when he attacked executive pay and called for a living wage for young people.

Speaking in London, Mr Miliband said with just 15 per cent of private sector employees in unions, they had to change and “engage with the other 85 per cent”.

He said he and the union movement would disagree at times, but this would not affect the deep bonds between them.

“You will speak your mind, and so will I. But our link is secure enough, mature enough, to deal with disagreement. Because the relationship between party and unions is not about romance or nostalgia. It is about respect and shared values,” he said.

Strikes are always the consequence of failure. Labour leader Ed Miliband

Union votes were pivotal in Mr Miliband’s election as Labour leader. While he said he understood why millions of public sector workers were angry about the government’s pensions reforms, he added: “I do believe it was a mistake for strikes to happen.”

Industrial action was necessary as a last resort, but he said: “In truth, strikes are always the consequence of failure.”

"Forget the heckling, the cries of "shame" and "stand up for us" from union members to Ed Miliband today," writes Economics Editor Faisal Islam.

"Tomorrow expect a major development in Britain's politics and economy. As I have long suspected the three union giants - Unison, Unite and the GMB - will use tomorrow's TUC pension debate to call for the closest thing Britain has seen to a General Strike in decades. A ballot for rolling strikes against the coalition government's public sector pension reforms."

Read Faisal Islam's blog.

Autumn of discontent

Unions are preparing for more industrial action in the autumn, which could involve large numbers of public sector workers in the biggest outbreak of unrest for decades. But the Labour leader said what was needed was “meaningful negotiation to prevent further confrontation”. Change was also necessary to make the unions relevant.

“As you know better than I, just 15 per cent of the private sector workforce are members of trade unions. You know that you need to change, if that is to change. That is why so many unions are making huge efforts to engage with the other 85 per cent.

“But you know the biggest challenge you face when you try to do this: relevance. And you know you will never have relevance for many workers in this country if you allow yourselves to be painted as the opponents of change. You know the new economy that emerges from this crisis must be built on foundations of co-operation, not conflict, in the workplace.”

Labour cuts

Referring to the government’s programme of public spending cuts and tax increases, Mr Miliband said Labour would have had to take action on the deficit if it had been elected last year.

“If we were in government, we would also be making some cuts in spending. I sometimes hear it said that Labour opposes every cut. Some people might wish that was true, but it’s not. We committed ourselves to halving the deficit over four years. That would mean cuts,” he said.

He is not ashamed of the trade union links to the Labour Party. GMB leader Paul Kenny

Union leaders were split in their reactions to the speech. Paul Kenny, leader of the GMB, said: “I have to give him credit for his courage in coming here and speaking frankly to us. What comes across is that he is not ashamed of the trade union links to the Labour Party.”

But Bob Crow, general secretary of the Rail Maritime and Transport union, said: “Ed Miliband needs to decide just whose side he is on. Criticising teachers and other workers taking strike action to defend jobs, services and pensions alienates core Labour supporters in their hundreds of thousands and is a political suicide mission.

“A Labour leader who doesn’t stand by the workers is on a one-way ticket to oblivion.”