The new leader’s focus on workplace issues resonated with the membership. Politicians should take note
“Bad bosses take note.” That was the message of the new general secretary of the Unite trade union, Labour’s largest affiliate. Sharon Graham has stated her priority in very clear terms: putting Unite members and workplaces first. She has become the first woman to lead Unite – meaning that it and Unison, the two largest unions in the country, as well as the TUC itself, are now led by women.
Discussion of Graham’s insurgent victory inevitably turns to what this will mean for Labour. As it was founded by trade unionists, that is inevitable. Yet in many ways it does a disservice to trade unions that we talk about them so much through the prism of the Labour party.