Sue Ferns – 2022 Speech to TUC Conference

The speech made by Sue Ferns, the President of TUC, to the TUC Conference on 18 October 2022.

Vice-President, Frances, Paul, delegates:

It’s wonderful to address you as TUC President.
To be at our first in-person Congress for three years.
And I want to begin by thanking my two predecessors.
Two good friends of mine.
Gail Cartmail and Ged Nichols.
As Ged said, there had been 152 TUC Congresses.
And it was just his luck to preside over the first ever virtual one.
But Ged and Gail both did us proud.
We may have been apart – but they kept us together.
I also want to thank Mike – boss and friend – and everyone at Prospect for their support throughout the year.
I’m incredibly proud to be part of such a unique union.
Private and public, we represent professionals and specialists on whom we all depend:
The air traffic controllers keeping our skies safe.
Our members keeping the BBC on air in the face of threats to the future of public service broadcasting.
Scientists tackling our climate emergency.
Energy workers supplying our homes, schools and hospitals despite the extreme weather events across the seasons.
And I want to say a few words about our members in the civil service.
Committed public servants who helped get us through the pandemic and Brexit.
The scientists whose advice we all depended on, now openly derided by ministers.
Civil servants who found out in the Daily Mail about the proposals to cut 91,000 of their jobs.
Shortly followed by Liz Truss’s ill-conceived plans to introduce regional pay.
To the government, to the new Prime Minister, we say this:
Together we are strong. Together we are united. And together we will fight for our members every step of the way.
Friends, my year as President has been dominated by Putin’s war in Ukraine and of course by the cost-of-living crisis.

I’ve heard the Prime Minister is looking for the anti-growth coalition.

Yes, the Prime Minister whose budget crashed the economy.

After less than a fortnight in charge.

So, I say this to the Prime Minister, if you want to find the anti-growth coalition, then take a look in the mirror.

Because working people will be taking no lessons on growth from you.

But there have been many highlights too.
And none better than meeting trade unionists the length and breadth of the country.
During the COP26 in Glasgow, I joined the GMB picket line during the refuse collectors’ dispute.
Men and women who didn’t just care about the jobs they do and the communities they serve.
But just one example of workers helping to care for our environment, yet so often taken for granted.
Because it’s clear that it’s not just governments or businesses that will tackle climate change.
A fair transition simply will not happen unless workers and their unions have a real say in decision-making and are properly supported through a process of fair change.
And earlier this year, I travelled to Plymouth to unveil a plaque commemorating the return of the Tolpuddle Martyrs.
That was on the same day as P&O workers learned that they were sacked on Zoom.
A reminder that almost two centuries after Tolpuddle, workers still face many of the same challenges:
Bad bosses. Insecure work. A government that serves wealth, but attacks labour.
It’s worth remembering that during the pandemic, the government lauded key workers and worked with unions to deliver furlough.
Two years on, and it attacks those same workers for asking for a decent pay rise – waging a right-wing assault on our movement.
Well, I say this to the government: you’ve completely misjudged the public mood. But you don’t need to take my word for it – just look at the latest opinion polls.
The British people have rather more faith in trade unionists than they do in Tory politicians. And we will fight any attempt to restrict our employment and trade union rights.
When we marched on 18 June, we said there was more to follow.
And Congress, today we are clear:
Workers across the country have had enough and are fighting back.
Rail workers, bus drivers, posties, NHS staff, teachers and many others across the economy are joining together to send a clear message.
We know it’s not wages that are driving up inflation.
But where’s the scrutiny of profits and bonuses?
No more real term cuts – we demand fair pay now.
It’s about time the real wealth creators got a look in.
Despite promising to get wages rising, the government is once again treating us as the enemy within.
What do politicians expect? We’re an industrial movement doing our job. Fighting for decent pay for working people.
But Congress, we’re not perfect.
At the start of my year as President, I made tackling sexual harassment a priority.
We’ve done lots of good work. But there’s a lot still to do.
As we know, sexual harassment takes many forms – from physical harassment to verbal abuse and downloading obscene images at work.
But I want to make one thing clear: it doesn’t matter whether it’s Parliament or any other workplace, sexual harassment is never acceptable.
And that includes our movement too.
Most women in this hall will have experienced harassment at some point in our working lives.
It’s upsetting, shocking, humiliating.
It takes a toll on your self-confidence and wellbeing.
And it makes doing a tough job even tougher.
And delegates, it makes it harder for women to do our union job too.
That’s another reason why it has to stop.
It’s corrosive and ultimately it weakens us all.
So let’s be clear: all decent trade unionists share an interest in preventing harassment of any kind.
No woman, or man, should suffer in silence.
And when harassment happens, let’s commit to take action to call it out, stop it, once and for all.
Congress, the battle for women’s equality has reached a defining moment.
Women still earn less than men.
Our pensions lag behind.
And our rights are under attack.
The US Supreme Court’s decision on Roe v Wade rolls back 50 years of progress.
An assault not just on women in America, but women worldwide.
And today we are clear:
It’s not for the radical and religious right to decide what women can, and can’t, do.
It’s for women. And women alone.
I’m proud that too we’re making a difference globally.
Most importantly, by leading the fight against the far right.
Let’s hope Lula gives Bolsonaro the thumping defeat he so richly deserves in the final round of the Brazilian elections at the end of the month.
Congress, whether it’s fighting the imprisonment of trade unionists in Turkey.
Or supporting the struggle for justice in Palestine.
Let’s put our values of internationalism and solidarity into action.
As a trustee of TUC Aid, I’ve seen what we can achieve.
Supporting Iraqi women. Tackling sexual harassment in Brazil. And helping our Kenyan brothers and sisters win fair trade deals.
Congress, in this country and overseas, equality really must be at the heart of everything we do.
As the TUC’s Anti Racism Task Force has shown, we are at our best when we are boldest.
So let’s secure good jobs for all.
Address our epidemic of low-paid, low-skilled, low-productivity work.
And deliver genuine flexibility for everyone.
It’s great that flexible working is now so prominent on the agenda.
But the debate shouldn’t just be about middle-class professionals working from home.
That excludes the majority of the working population – including keyworkers.
It should be about delivering flexibility for all.
And that includes those in occupations traditionally denied the choices others take for granted.
And Congress, it doesn’t matter whether it’s flexible working, or equality, or higher pay, we know the best way to win for working people:
Stronger unions. Collective bargaining. And organisation.
And that really puts the onus on all of us to rebuild our movement.
Meeting the demands of a world which is changing fast.
Automation, technological change, the climate emergency – all demand stronger, not weaker, trade unions.
And so we must focus relentlessly on growing our membership.
Reaching out to today’s workers, in all our magnificent diversity.
And nowhere is that more important than where most people work, in the private sector.
Times may change, jobs may change, but workers still need a union to fight their corner.
Public or private, only strong, growing, representative unions can give working people hope.
The confidence to demand better.
And that to me is the essence of trades unionism.
Workers joining together to win fairness, justice and equality. To secure good work, good jobs.
Never did I imagine I would have the privilege of addressing this Congress as President.
Nor that, within my working life, women would assume their rightful place as leaders of our movement.
Frances, I imagine you’re going to hear a fair few tributes over the next two days.

You have been a brilliant general secretary.

Thank you for everything that you have achieved for working people.

You may have been our first woman general secretary, but mark my words, you will not be the last.

Finally I must say thank you to you, the trade union team.

The officers, reps and activists who make our movement what it is.

A unique democratic movement of, and for, working people.

So thank you delegates for everything you do.

Keep up the good work.

Be proud of our trade union values.

And let’s build for the future.