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Exactly 100 years ago this month the first ever Parliamentary Labour Party was elected. 29 MPs: all of them trade unionists, all of them working men (women had yet to win the vote). These miners, engineers, cotton spinners, bootmakers, railway workers, shipbuilders and steel workers overcame massive political and personal obstacles to put their collective values into action.
Men and women came together from the factories, mills, farms and pits to find an independent trusted voice for working people. For the first time there was a voice for the voiceless and an offer of power to the powerless, in their communities.
Those proud pioneers could only dream of the position their party is in today: victorious after a third term election, Labour values in the ascendancy, the Tories struggling to come to terms with our agenda, the Liberals still in chaos.
We live in a very different world, with new and different problems from a century ago. However our values and our mission remain the same.
100 years after Labour MPs first argued for a minimum wage, this generation has seen the first ever National Minimum Wage and the introduction of the Pension Credit, the biggest rise in pensioner incomes since the introduction of the state pension.
100 years after the first ‘Right to Work’ Bill was introduced by the Labour members, this generation has seen a record number of people in work and a new Welfare Bill which will help even more people into work.
Since our re-election we have made steady progress on implementing the Warwick Agreement:
• Our Work and Families Bill is currently going through Parliament. This bill extends paid maternity and adoption leave, extends the right to request flexible working to carers of adults and helps fathers to play more of a role in their child’s upbringing, if the mother returns to work.
• The Bill also delivers our promise to ensure all workers are entitled to 4 weeks statutory leave in addition to 8 days bank holidays.
• The Corporate Manslaughter Bill has been making good progress through parliament.
• And the forthcoming Labour Market Strategy from the DTI will set out how we deliver on a host of other Warwick promises.
In 2005 trade unionists rose to the challenge of electing a third term Labour Government. Thanks to your efforts in the workplaces and on the doorsteps we were able to elect a Government committed to working people.
However, electing a Labour Government doesn’t end with a General Election victory. In 2006 we face a tough test with local elections in towns and cities across Britain.
It is now clear that the Tories will say anything to try to re-establish a grip on local councils as a stepping stone to getting back into government. David Cameron has undoubted PR skills but we shouldn’t be fooled. When he had his chance to say something of substance he wrote Howard’s 2005 Tory manifesto.
He didn’t just campaign on that manifesto - he was the author. Hand-picked by Michael Howard to carry forward the Thatcher legacy, David Cameron proposed:
• Taking away working people’s right to a holiday.
• Abolishing the New Deal that has given an extra million people jobs and training.
• Scrapping the Union Learning Fund and the Modernisation Fund.
Nor should we forget the Liberal Democrats. They may be in disarray nationally but they remain a threat to working people locally. Wherever they share power with the Tories or win power outright the result is always the same. Cuts chaos and confusion – and it is always the most vulnerable people who pay the price.
Working people need Labour Councils delivering Labour policies in communities across Britain. Please visit www.unionstogether.org.uk to volunteer on the campaign, order materials for your workplace or sign up for regular email updates on the progress on the Warwick agreement.
My sincere thanks for the work Trade Unionists have done so far to help our council candidates and once again for all your efforts to win a third term.
PS: If you are a branch officer; please pass this article around to your members so that we can have as many trade unionists signed up to the www.unionstogether.org.uk website as possible.
This article has also appeared in:
BFAWU "Foodworker" March 2006
GMB Yorkshire & North Derbyshire Region "In Touch" Spring 2006
TGWU "The Record" March/April 2006
Usdaw "Network Magazine" March 2006
TSSA "Journal" March/April 2006
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TULO Newsletter February 2006 
