Kevin Parslow, Delegate to conference from Waltham Forest Trades Council

The 2026 trades councils conference takes place on 30-31 May against the background of increasing discontent with the Labour government. Trade unionists and the whole working class have experienced little change from the previous Tory governments and face continued austerity and a looming cost-of-living crisis.

Local trades councils are comprised of delegates from trade union branches with members who live, work or meet in their area, and therefore have enormous potential to campaign for working-class people’s interests. As remembered when we commemorated the centenary of the 1926 General Strike in Britain, when trades councils were transformed into councils of action, beginning to control the distribution of supplies and the maintenance of essential services, that potential extends to running society.

That may seem to be a distant memory, but society is entering stormy times. Our organisations have to be prepared for all eventualities. The trade union leaders have to match what we expect of them.

The trades council conference agenda reflects this. There are demands to build a campaign for affordable housing from Enfield and Newham trades councils. Motions from Coventry and Brent trades councils lament the weakness of Labour’s Employment Rights Act, and demand new legislation to fully restore trade union rights and end practices like zero-hour contracts. Internationally, the motion from Basildon and Thurrock raises working-class solidarity against wars in the Middle East, and calls for nationalisation of the defence industries and for workers to discuss alternatives to war production.

All these motions should be supported, but then our decisions need to be acted upon.

Trades councils now only have the Joint Consultative Committee, acting under the auspices of the TUC (Trades Union Congress), and one delegate and motion to TUC Congress itself. A composite motion at this conference demands increased representation and rights at TUC Congress – after all, trades councils helped found the TUC in the 19th century, before later being excluded altogether!

But motions from Plymouth and Waltham Forest trades councils demand that the TUC act upon the motion passed at last year’s trades council conference, sent to TUC Congress and passed, calling for a Saturday demonstration against Labour austerity. Our members would mobilise if this call was acted upon, and show that the working-class movement can give a lead.

The Socialist Party will have a strong presence at conference, reflecting the militant mood of many trades council delegates, and will be urging that trades council conference adopts fighting policies for the battles ahead.