Union boss celebrates £150m year of success
Sharon leads Unite back to basics
UNITE general secretary Sharon Graham has led more than 450 disputes and put £150million back into members’ pockets in one year of leadership.
The 53-year-old became the union’s first female head last August, beating Gerard Coyne and Steve Turner.
Since then she has won an unprecedented 80 per cent of disputes and increases for members who took action over pay.
Ms Graham said: “I felt the union needed to get back to what it says on the trade union tin: jobs, pay and conditions. It’s not rocket science.
“But £150million of new money in the pockets of our members from the disputes we’ve won in the last year proves it works.”
Unite now has a dedicated disputes team, which organised the 76,000 members who took industrial action. Key wins were against British Airways, Coventry city council and pallet company Chep.
Ms Graham added: “We follow the money. We finish up knowing more about the corporate giants we are taking on than they know themselves.”
She also took a swipe at top Tories such as Transport Secretary Grant Shapps, who unveiled a 16-point plan to “take on” unions following rail strikes.
Ms Graham said: “Whatever they throw at us we will be ready.”
The general secretary added the union was focused on industry rather than Westminster.
She said: “We are not a branch of the Labour Party. We are a strong industrial organisation with the ability to deliver real benefits for workers.”
Around 1,900 Unite members will launch an eight-day strike at Felixstowe today in a dispute over pay.
The Port of Felixstowe said it “regrets the impact... on UK supply chains”.