Ed Miliband is the Brothers’ man, or so the popular myth relates. Miliband has
been trying to shake that perception ever since his election was secured by the union vote. He will make his most visible show of defiance yet in a speech to the TUC conference today. Miliband
will refuse to countenance the proposed general strike over public sector pensions and instead urge the unions to change their ways. The Guardian reports that he will say:
‘The challenge for unions is this: to recognise that Britain needs to raise its game if we are to meet the challenges of the future and to get private sector employers in the new economy to recognise that you are relevant to that future.’
He will go on to say that union membership is at its lowest ebb, especially among those who work in the private sector. The implication is that the unions are a vested interest, predominantly at the disposal of the public sector.
Miliband’s most resonant political memes are: “I will fight vested interests” and “I will protect the squeezed middle”. The latter group is, as Rachel Sylvester notes in today’s Times (£), resentful of union agitation over generous pension settlements at a time when jobs are at risk, inflation is ravaging living standards and wages look set to remain frozen. The unions do not represent the majority of the working classes and Miliband has everything to gain by challenging them.
Today’s speech is a prelude to the wider drama within the Labour movement. Throughout the summer, Miliband has been moving to limit the unions’ electoral influence over the Labour party. This awkward manoeuvre is made all the more tricky by the party’s continued financial reliance on union subs. But Rachel Sylvester reveals that the unions might have relented and that the new order will be unveiled at the NEC meeting next week.
That’s a clear success for Miliband, but the unions’ public face will count for more than their place in the Labour Party’s electoral rubric. Divisive strikes appear certain to happen, with or without the Labour leader’s blessing. A senior member of the TUC explained to me recently that pensions are totemic, a reflection of the public sector’s current dominance in the unions, and that an impasse with the government already seems to have been reached. Miliband is wise to disown his Brothers.
UPDATE: Here is Ed Miliband’s speech. He made a firm attack on the government’s economic policy, calling it Plan A for Austerity. As expected he called for a Plan B to stimulate growth, without really itemising what that might entail beyond reviving Ed Balls’ unfunded VAT cut and that old canard: the bankers’ bonus tax. He also condemned the government for seeking confrontation with the unions over public sector pensions. He said he sympathised with public sector workers, but insisted that it had been wrong to strike while negotiations were ongoing. That utterance was met with a brief smattering of boos. The heckling continued throughout the speech and the Q&A that followed.
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