By Socialist Alternative members in Unite
As we enter a new period under a Labour government, Unite leader Sharon Graham has said “there will be no honeymoon period”. As her term as General Secretary reaches its halfway point, is important we make a balance sheet of the union under Graham and look at what role Unite must play going forward.
Sharon Graham was elected as General Secretary of Unite, one of Britain’s biggest unions, in 2021 amid a wave of enthusiasm on the left.
Her campaign pledged to “get the union back to the workplace”. She pledged to give workers more power by setting up combines: bodies bringing together shop stewards in every sector, as well as to form a “shop steward parliament”, in order for workers to take control of their own disputes. There was also a commitment to establish a democracy commission to review the union’s structures.
Perhaps the biggest change was in relation to the Labour Party. “We have tried our political project through Labour – and failed” declared Graham’s manifesto. Instead the unions’ political strategy was not to focus on Labour or building a new party but building from the ground up.
Like other unions which organise public sector workers, Unite took part in the strike wave of 2022-23, winning certain victories. Up to June 2023 the union has won £400 million in pay increases since Graham’s election. However, like other union leaderships, Unite failed to coordinate action across sectors or take up the call for a general strike. Unite also did not take part in the Enough is Enough campaign that was launched by RMT and CWU to build a movement around the strikes. Instead Unite launched their own campaign ‘For A Workers’ Economy’, which in reality was little more than a poster campaign. This failure to coordinate had the effect of allowing the government and employers to pick off disputes, limiting what was gained as a result.
Workers’ politics?
Graham’s refusal to speak at the 2021 Labour Party conference was widely seen as a snub to Starmer’s Labour leadership. Instead she stood on a picket line along with striking Woolwich Ferry workers.
Socialist Alternative agreed with the call for no more blank cheques for Labour, but we have also criticised the idea that industrial militancy should be counterposed to political action. This leaves the working class disarmed and without a political voice.
Unfortunately her approach has worsened. At the 2023 Unite rules conference, a motion was moved by a delegate from Socialist Alternative for the union to back proworking class candidates at elections whether inside or out of Labour. This would have allowed the union to back Jeremy Corbyn and other independents at the 2024 election, but it was opposed by the Unite leadership. Sharon Graham herself said “it would be the worst time to leave the Labour Party when they are in touching distance of power, if we leave we wouldn’t influence that power.”
In fact Keir Stamer was given a platform at that conference, in a stage-managed session where questions had been carefully vetted by the leadership.
Graham has rightly promised to hold a Labour government’s feet to the fire, and called on the new chancellor to change the fiscal rules. While positive, these words must be matched in deeds. We need mass, working-class resistance under Labour – a key part of this will be building a political alternative. We need Unite to build a conference of unions, the left, climate campaigners, Palestine activists and other working-class fighters to begin to build that resistance.
Trade union democracy
While the first months of Graham’s leadership saw a burst of enthusiasm for the democratic renewal of the union’s structures, progress has since stalled. The promised ‘democracy review’ into Unite’s structures has yet to bear any fruit, and there has been no further mention of the shop steward parliament.
The industrial combines which have been established have been a limited success, giving stewards some control over their disputes. However, many are still topdown and led by paid union officials. It is a mistake to believe that ad-hoc structures can grow outside of the largely ossified official structures of the union while leaving the old bureaucracy in charge.
It has also been a mistake of Graham and many of her supporters not to call for the launch of a new broad left grouping within the union. In order to consolidate the position of the left in the union, it is essential that the best fighters come together to continue the struggle to democratise the union at every level and ensure a militant leadership.
Failure to do this has meant fragmented and weak left campaigns at the most recent NEC election. Unfortunately the ‘United Left’, in reality the right of the union, now have a majority on the NEC, leaving Graham and her supporters isolated and hemmed in by the right. This is what, in part, has allowed the union to maintain its position of support for Labour.
International issues
Unite’s initial response to the Israeli onslaught in Gaza after the 7 October cross-border attacks by Hamas was to call on Hamas to return the hostages, with no demands on Israel and its imperialist allies. It was not until a month into the conflict that the union called for an immediate ceasefire. At no point has the union leadership outlined what role its members can play, particularly in the arms industry, in acting in solidarity with the Palestinian people and helping to bring about an end to the bloodshed.
In fact, in a letter to members, responding to criticisms of the union published on the website Skwawkbox, Graham specifically attacked “groups that look to build networks inside trade unions to undermine the defence industry or demand the disbandment of NATO and AUKUS” – seeing the union’s interests as simply the “protection and advancement of our members’ interests at work”. By taking this narrow approach, refusing to take a stand on political questions, Graham has ended up defending NATO over union members looking to take a stand against war and imperialism.
Similarly, Unite has avoided any criticism of NATO’s role in the inter-imperialist proxy war in Ukraine, for which Ukrainian workers are facing the bloody consequences. Instead, Unite should be boldly taking up the call for workers’ action to shut down the war machine, building international solidarity with trade unionists in Palestine, Ukraine and around the world, and fighting for a plan of green jobs not bombs!
Under this pro-business Labour government, the trade union movement is faced with the task of building a real opposition. This includes within the workplace as the first and last line of defense for workers defending jobs, terms and conditions, as well as developing a political alternative to the major parties and the far right. Talk from the General Secretary is not enough. Real steps are required in order to ensure that the union is fit for the huge task that lies ahead.
