“WORKERS should not be made to pay for austerity,” the annual trade union councils conference insisted at the weekend.

The conference, the last to be held at Congress House in London, was evidence of a vibrant trades union council movement, with almost twice the number of delegates as last year.

TUC general secretary Paul Nowak opened the event with an address calling for the recognition of Palestine as a state and for the Employment Rights Bill to be implemented in full.

He also reminded delegates that “Reform do not and never will represent working-class people; that’s our job.”

A number of motions dealt with the best ways to increase young people’s involvement in trades councils.

The drop in trade union membership among young workers was described as “a crisis” by TUC Young Workers chairman Fraser Maguire of Derby TUC.

He said: “Workers who have grown up only knowing austerity and often precarious employment easily become alienated.”

Birmingham bin striker Mike Masters received a standing ovation from delegates when he addressed the conference.

The Unite member said: “The Labour council is using commissioners put in by a Tory government to attack workers.

“Workers should not be made to pay for austerity.”

A debate on opposition to the far right heard that Reform are using populist left-seeming slogans to attract trade unionists. 

There is a need to highlight the party’s anti-working class policies and voting records, the conference heard.

Support from across the trade union movement was urged for the June 7 People’s Assembly demonstration in London, which will have the slogans Welfare not Warfare; Stop the Cuts and Tax the Rich.

Jane Nellist of Coventry TUC noted that “the number of billionaires has tripled since the 2010 start of austerity.”