‘It’s time to build a party rooted in the workplaces and unions’
At the 17 October Your Party meeting in Coventry, Matt Reid, Unite convenor for the Birmingham bin strike, spoke. The Labour council, backed up by the government is using fire-and-rehire tactics to tear up workers’ terms and conditions and impose an £8,000-a-year pay cut. Workers in Unite the Union have been on strike for over ten months. We publish extracts of Matt’s speech.
Trade unionism at its core is about fairness, equality, and dignity at work. It’s about lifting up the many, not bowing to the few. It’s about saying we refuse to let working people be disposable, to let families be ground down, to let our communities be hollowed out. And if Labour cannot find the courage to live up to those values, then maybe it’s time to return to our roots. Maybe it’s time to build something new. A party that is unashamedly rooted in unity and solidarity that demonstrates our values. A party that is rooted in the workplaces and unions. A party that will fight not just for seats in parliament, but for real material change in people’s lives.
It’s clear to us that the Labour Party has lost its way. And with the rise of Reform, many working people are turning away from the party that no longer protects and supports them, into the waiting arms of those who would divide us and lie to us and paint a picture of a nationalist, patriotic country. But we know the undercurrent that comes from this rhetoric: anything foreign, anything different is not welcome, and anyone who speaks out will be vilified and silenced.
Change is needed. The future is not written yet. We still have time to make positive moves to stem the tide and show people there is another choice, a better, more inclusive party based in fairness, equality, and workers’ rights, with the trade unions at its core. That’s a party I would vote for. That’s a party that many working people in this country would vote for, and together, we can reshape the country to a place of fairness, respect, and equality, not a place of fear and division.
