THE CWU has two motions to TUC Congress — one calling for a strategy to win sectoral collective bargaining across more sectors of the economy and one on reform of the TUC itself.

“These two motions are really extensions of each other,” general secretary Dave Ward argues. “In the CWU we always try to connect the industrial and the political.

“On sectoral bargaining. We’ve always held there are elements you expect government to legislate for, but that the trade union movement should not purely rely on legislation to move things forward.

“My view on the Employment Rights Bill, warts and all, is that it’s a significant piece of legislation that starts to shift the balance of forces back towards working-class people.

“Does it go far enough? No. Is it is a platform for us to build on? Yes.

“Obviously we want Labour to stand firm against these amendments from the Lords, trying to turn the ban on zero-hours contracts to a right to request defined hours, some of the stuff on day-one rights they’re trying to push back — that shouldn’t be acceptable to Labour.

“But the Employment Rights Bill came out of the New Deal for Workers — a campaign we were instrumental in launching, and the Morning Star was very supportive of from the start. The wrap we did around the paper launching the New Deal campaign talked from the beginning about the need to agree common bargaining agendas for whole sectors.

“The areas we need to focus on now are the introduction of collective bargaining beyond the care sector and ending bogus self-employment — you’re either a worker or you’re self-employed, there’s no room in between.

“It’s right to talk about a ‘new deal 2’ and the motion also commits the TUC to a public campaign putting pressure on Labour to deliver that, but how will that be taken seriously if unions themselves can’t agree on what we want in terms of fair pay agreements or conditions in a sector? And if we had agreed that, then we could be making progress whilst campaigning for further legislation.

“That’s why we say we want the TUC to have a plan to secure common bargaining agendas with other trade unions in three sectors within six months.”

One of the sectors crying out for sectoral agreements is post and logistics. “These multinational companies wouldn’t get away with the gig economy model they use here in other European countries — where they abuse workers, don’t pay tax and the state has to subsidise pay.”

It’s been hugely damaging for Royal Mail, which has to try to grow in a parcels and deliveries market when its employment costs are higher.

Ward believes there is an opportunity, with new management, for a change in the way the company operates so workers and their union have a greater say on its direction: “We’ve achieved some important things in what remains a fully privately owned company.” Labour, he believes, should be looking at new governance arrangements in the public and private sector that would give workers a stronger voice. Even so, the jury’s out on whether Royal Mail management will abide by agreements with the union on issues like reform to the universal service obligation, and the CWU is prepared for a fight.

But back to collective bargaining: “It doesn’t just require legislation, if unions to come together and talk seriously about how we move this forward we will make progress. The biggest win we’ve had in recent years has been through coming together in the New Deal campaign, now we need to go further and we can’t unless we come together ourselves. Yes, we called for a summit on this in our motion last year, and we had that. I don’t think it was taken seriously enough and we’re not going to let up.”

Ward insists that only through sitting down together and working out sectoral strategies will unions look outward, to the big majority of workers who are not in unions, instead of competing for a shrinking pool. And there is a political urgency to this.

“The figures I’ve seen from the TUC is that union density is about 12 per cent now in the private sector, about 49 per cent in the public sector.

“I think that’s one reason why the likes of Farage can present himself as the voice of working-class people — which I find totally unacceptable.

“We can’t just wait for Labour to solve that problem. I believe the trade union movement can offer an alternative itself — can be the basis for uniting working-class people across ethnicities and gender.

“We must stand against all forms of discrimination — but if you haven’t got an overarching strategy that moves all working-class people forward, you won’t defeat Farage.”

The TUC reforms the union is proposing, including for general secretaries to be elected for five-year terms, are intended to strengthen the TUC’s ability to act collectively for all workers, to focus on it “developing these bigger campaigns that connect industrial and political issues and to get a higher profile.” Ward recognises there will be opposition to this, but hopes opponents are up for an open debate. He stresses it is not a criticism of the TUC’s existing leadership — “I sometimes feel the TUC isn’t being allowed to do its job.”

A united trade union strategy to advance all working-class people’s interests would certainly be one way to offer an alternative to the far right’s answer to people’s grievances. And Ward says he understands why people are so angry with the system: “Why is it that when I was entering the workforce in the 1970s I could get a decent job, afford a house, could have decent public services, but people today can’t?”

But what of a potential political challenge to the far right through the new left party being established by Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana?

He’s sympathetic: “I completely understand the reasons why Jeremy and Zarah feel the need to establish a new party. The way they have been treated by the Labour leadership! That they have taken this course of action — that’s down to Labour rather than them. And I think that the factional element in the Labour leadership is very dangerous now.

“Labour would be very foolish to ignore it, or assume it won’t damage them. I think it will. We’re not writing it off at all.

“So far, we haven’t had pressure from our members to get involved with it, and my worry is that it won’t cut through in working-class communities, where at the moment the big worry is a movement, including potentially among union members, towards Reform. And pressure for disaffiliation from Labour may come from the right, not the left.

“When we talk about a campaign for a New Deal 2, or collective bargaining, we will work with all political forces that will help. And we’re well aware that the first New Deal campaign took off the way it did partly because of support from Jeremy as well as others, like Andy McDonald. There will be a lot of common ground.

“But I don’t think there is anything more important right now than developing a common strategy across the unions themselves.

“That doesn’t mean being apologists for Labour, saying — three or four years from an election — oh, Labour have done this or that for us. They’ve not done well and they’ve made bad choices.

“They need to feel we’re coming for them as a movement — not by asking them to make changes but by changing the world of work ourselves.”

Dave Ward is general secretary of the CWU. Ben Chacko is editor of the Morning Star.