Union Matters
May 12 2026
The second day of the CWU’s conference saw robust debate over the union’s political relationship with Labour – and while crisis engulfed 10 Downing Street, Angela Rayner spoke to delegates.
After a report on finances from finance manager Nabih Fonkwe and debates on regional funds, the Bournemouth conference made news after it was announced that former housing minister and Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner would be addressing delegates.
Speaking about Angela, general secretary Dave Ward ruminated that “it feels to a lot of people in the country that the Labour Party have completely disconnected from working-class people.
“But one person who definitely understands the needs of working-class people is Angela Rayner.”
Thanking her for “strongly advocating” for the Employment Rights Act when “some in Labour didn’t want that bill to go through”, Dave said that “Angela always stood by the movement in this period.”
Addressing delegates, Angela said that she had been “crawling through mud” all weekend, a “bruising few days” – though she was talking about completing a Tough Mudder challenge, not the fall-out from Thursday’s dreadful by-election results.
Attacking global companies “using global instability to make record profits” after Donald Trump’s attack on Iran saw BP’s profits double, Angela said how “working class people are once again paying the price for decisions they didn’t make.
“It’s no wonder that across the UK, people feel that the system is rigged against them.”
Describing the chaos engulfing Labour, Angela said that “the prime minister acknowledged the frustration that exists.
“But we will be judged by our actions, not just words.
“Tweaks won’t fix the fundamental challenges our country faces – the government needs to up pace to put measures in place that make people’s lives better.
“They need a new foundation against the system that is rigged against them.
“Labour exist to make people better off, and that is not happening fast enough.”
Referencing her time as a trade unionist in Unison, she said that “I was born in Stockport, but I was raised in the trade union movement.
“The movement taught me that if you have strong values, if you work collectively, you can get things done, no matter what you’re up against.”
She congratulated CWU members for their work in developing the New Deal for Workers campaign, saying that the Employment Rights Act “wasn’t created in an ivory tower by politicians, it was developed by the trade union movement, and it will be delivered with you.
“It’s clear – there is no way we would have had the New Deal for Workers campaign in law without the affiliated unions.”
She mentioned that the performance of governments in Spain and Canada prove that “economies can grow, and people can thrive, when governments stay true to their values and put people first”, the rise of Nigel Farage and Reform means that a serious struggle is ahead for the labour movement.
“We are in a fightback for the soul of the country – and we can only fight with the union family.”
Maintaining the Labour Link
Delegates overwhelmingly discussed the union’s relationship with Labour, and voted to maintain affiliating to the party in the face of motions calling to sever institutional ties.
Speaking for disaffiliation, Midlands No.1 delegate Neil Singh said that “we’re told affiliation gives us influence, particularly at Labour conference, but even when conference votes for Royal Mail renationalisation, the government refuses to act.
“We’ve seen a Labour government that accepts privatisation, including our NHS, where public money is siphoned off to private profit – and patients pay the price.
“You see it with Thames Water, a debt-ridden system, where the same old neoliberal model is propped up.”
UTAW delegate Deji Olayinka added that “the Tory tribute act won’t stop when Starmer leaves – Labour isn’t for the working class.”
Speaking on the state of Labour, general secretary Dave Ward said that “after 14 years of the Tories, over a decade of austerity, we thought were going to rebuild the country.
“It’s true that Labour has inherited a mess – nobody can deny that.
“But the self-inflicted disasters have been shocking. Take the decision on winter fuel allowance, for example – I am still staggered by that choice.
“With that massive majority, that’s what they did.”
Condemning the “dysfunctional, factional culture” that exists “at the top of the Labour Party”, Dave criticised “the people there behind [Starmer], and what they think about things.”
He praised Greater Manchester regional mayor Andy Burnham, who “wants to offer real solutions and wants to put forward solutions to working people”, yet got “blocked” when standing for selection to be Labour’s candidate in February’s Gorton and Denton by-election.
After the Greens won that by-election by a landslide, Dave said, ‘that decision to block him caused immense damage to the labour movement all across the board.”
Despite his harsh words for Labour and its leadership, Dave said that the ultimate principle of CWU policy is “strategically driven by one thing – what is in the interests of the people we represent.”
That, he said, must be in directly influencing Labour through maintaining formal affiliation.
Leeds delegate Asghar Khan, who is also a left-wing Labour councillor, said that “change doesn’t come from walking away – it comes from working together with those fighting for change.
“Affiliation isn’t a blank cheque, it’s a political tool.”
Marching for Gaza
A motion was passed that mandated the CWU to encourage more branches to affiliate to the Palestine Solidarity Campaign and attend Gaza solidarity protests.
Moving the motion, South Central Divisional Rep Paul Garraway condemned government’s proscription of anti-genocide group Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation, saying that “the criminalisation of Palestine Action is in itself a crime.
“The hypocrisy of politicians legislating to criminalise them before celebrating the legacy of the Suffragettes is hypocritical and sickening.
“It’s heartening that people hold up placards in solidarity with their actions still.”
Opposing the motion, north London delegate Gary Heather repeatedly disagreed with “what’s going on” in Palestine, but defended Theodor Herzl, the philosophical father of modern Zionism, as having “the right idea” when he wrote his ideas in the 1890s, and called for ways to bring peace to “the Israeli people and the Palestinian community”.
Defending the motion, Midlands No.1 delegate Ali Moosa said that “Israel is not a democratic state – it is an apartheid state.
“We need to stand for justice.”
Other motions included a defeated motion over establishing a strike fund, discussions over expanding into ‘non-core’ businesses, and a wide but uncontroversial discussion on rule changes.
