After the words, action

Gordon Brown made a nice speech – now he has to deliver. That was the message of UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis last night, as he spoke out in defence of vulnerable workers in British society, particularly women struggling for equal pay and migrant workers.“We’ve been waiting years for a leadership speech like that,” Mr Prentis told a fringe meeting on social justice at work. “But it’s easy to have a speech full of rhetoric and full of promises. We know from Warwick that they don’t always deliver. “The trade unions have to ensure that the government does deliver. The four unions working together are the best bulwark we’ve got.”Those four unions – UNISON, Unite, GMB and CWU – hosted the fringe to discuss social justice, the minimum wage, equal pay, migrant labour and social housing. “All the promises made today have been about individual rights,” said Mr Prentis. “But workers and their trade unions have to be able to negotiate collective rights. “Equal pay is not about individual women engaging no-win no-fee solicitors and getting back pay for themselves, while the structures never change. If we are to protect people and deal with equal pay properly, for all of our women members, we need class action and a collective approach.” Mr Prentis also talked passionately about the exploitation of migrant workers. And he said it was “absolutely disgusting” that the government was preventing trade unions from accessing the European Court of Employment Rights, “excluding ourselves from employment legislation, when every other worker in the EU has access to that protection.”Mr Prentis was joined by three other general secretaries: Paul Kenny of the GMB, Derek Simpson of Unite-Amicus and Tony Woodley of Unite-TGWU.