SHARON GRAHAM: ‘Workers can’t hold paying for each disaster – we want a plan, now’

Workers can’t keep paying for crisis after crisis they did not create. As American and Israeli bombs landed on Tehran, energy bills in Britain are forecast to hit almost £2,000 a year this summer.

In this global world, war in one continent affects virtually every other. No one will escape Trumpflation, particularly those countries that have offshored their oil and energy supply, like us. Decades of sell offs and underinvestment mean that we rely on others. Over 40% of our power supplies come from abroad and we are reliant on imports for food.

This week Britain’s gas market has pushed past three-year highs. In the 1980’s we were near self-sufficiency. But as British workers prepare themselves for summer hikes to their bills, some are doing very well out of war and oil shocks.

Investment bank Jefferies estimates that American oil producers will generate an extra $5 billion in March alone. Analysis by EnergyFlux found exporters and traders of American liquefied natural gas are set to earn nearly $1 billion more per week based on higher prices.

Unite has been warning about rampant profiteering for years, but up to now no politician has been willing to say out loud what most people think – why should profits be protected but not household bills or wages? Coming late to the party, profit caps are now being called for in Europe, as politics tries to catch up.

Trump’s illegal war is just the latest in a long line of crisis that has left the super-rich richer and everyone else paying more for less. At each turn there are winners and losers. The 2008 global banking crash saw the City firms that caused the crash bailed out, while workers’ wages stagnated. City bankers have now even got their bonuses back. A safety net for the wealthy, the law of the jungle for the rest.

A decade later, over 500 health and social workers lost their lives during Covid. We proved that huge numbers of firms had profiteered while prices soared and workers paid the ultimate price when we needed them most. And what thanks have NHS workers and doctors got in return? Attacks from Labour politicians for standing up for themselves after years of real terms pay cuts.

How about the profiteers? Not a mention. In 2022 the Russian invasion of Ukraine, saw the same pattern repeated. As inflation continued to spike, the Bank of England told us all to take a wage cut, while plundering big business ripped us off. Food prices up 38%, wages under attack.

Now, yet more profiteering is set to put pressure on prices again. Where do workers come first? Crisis after crisis and the same old story. The system is rigged and workers rightly feel it does not work for everyday people. The global system is more exposed than ever to shocks and our higher personal debts – taken on because wages stood still and housing prices rocketed – have made us all more vulnerable.

All of this has led to the end of the old Labour voting tribe. The Government’s failure to improve the living conditions of workers, has cemented the exodus. The longer it goes on, the less likely it is that workers will ever return. As a trade union movement, we cannot just stand by and watch while the people we represent pay for crisis after crisis. We must now reckon with a new political reality and ensure that, for us, workers come first.

Need Net Zero policy to work for everyone

The surge in oil and gas prices has shone the brightest spotlight on the Government’s stance on our North Sea reserves.

To be clear, my Union supports Net Zero but not a jobless transition, based on a random undefined timeline. We need a real plan for what comes next before issuing bans on drilling. We cannot accept a jobs slaughter and put at risk what remains of our energy security. We are already dependent on imports for our power needs, as we are for so much else, so this is part of a wider issue about our national infrastructure.

At a time of global change we need to secure, own and invest in our critical assets. Things that we all rely on. Like our energy reserves, like our steel production and like our water system. All are vital to our everyday lives but are owned by overseas investors. It is time to invest in Britain.

Proud of what unions do for our workforces

When I was elected General Secretary of Unite over 4 years ago, I promised to get my Union back to the workplace.

That does not mean we do not “do politics”. In fact, I am probably one of Keir Starmer’s biggest critics when bad decisions affect my members, although I don’t use my members as shock troops in the Labour Party. I’m much more interested in doing what it says on the Union tin. Fighting for workers.

So far, since my election, we have put over £630 million back into the pockets of Unite members from successful disputes alone. This is what a trade union is for. Fighting for better jobs, pay and conditions.

Getting rid of state pension helps nobody

At the moment, the argument is being made by some that the ‘wealthier’ should be cut out of state pensions.

It sounds plausible until you think about it. Over time more and more people would be cut out of the state pension system as politicians look for easy fixes. In ten years, it wouldn’t just be the government determined ‘wealthier’ excluded, those on average earnings, would almost certainly be asked to take the hit.

Over time the state pension would become a poor benefit for those much less well off. The political pressure to increase it or keep the lock, would be weakened and many of those no longer benefitting would start to question whether their taxes should be spent on it at all. Universal benefits mean that everyone has a stake, if that principle is ever lost, don’t be surprised if the poor just get poorer.

Wave a banner for all protests

The Governments attack on the right to protest and on jury trials should concern us all. The right to protest is a fundamental right, not a privilege as some seem to think it should be. It is a cornerstone of our democracy.

A crackdown on dissent is almost always a sign of weakness not strength, and political interference in policing of protest has a long and painful history. Moves to try and stop protest and cut trial by jury are dangerous at a time of growing instability.