‘You are our partners in delivering change in government’: Ellie Reeves at TUC Congress 2024

Ellie Reeves has thanked trade unions for their support at the general election and vowed to always be on the side of working people.

In an address to delegates at the TUC Congress in Brighton, the Labour Party chair said that successive Conservative governments had trampled over employment rights, but said that Labour would offer something different.

She said: “We are ending long-standing industrial disputes, getting round the table and engaging in negotiations in a grown-up way.

“We’ve honoured the recommendations for public sector payrolls after years of Tory contempt, and we will deliver the New Deal for Working People, banning exploitative zero-hours contracts, ending fire and rehire, making flexible working a day one right and new rights to trade union access to workplaces.”

Reeves said that the Labour Party has an intrinsic link with the trade union movements after they came together to form “the only party in British history to truly represent those workers”.

“We’ve had our disagreements before, we will again, but never doubt the Labour Party under Keir Starmer’s leadership will always be on the side of working people,” she said.

READ MORE: ‘You must offer hope’ – TUC President’s message to Labour government

Reeves said that the “scorched earth policy” of successive Conservative governments makes the party’s relationship with trade unions even more important in the goal to deliver economic growth.

She said: “This will require the full force of the labour movement working in unison for the good of the country. We’ve done it before in 1945, 1964 and 1997 – now we must do it again.”

Reeves reflected on her time as a trade union lawyer and said: “Defending workers’ rights runs through my DNA.”

Addressing trade union delegates, she said: “You were are our partners as we took on the Conservatives from opposition, and now we are in government you are our partners in helping deliver the change that working people desperately need – securing our New Deal and rebuilding public services after 14 years of Tory devastation.

“Make no mistake, this is the worst inheritance of any incoming government in living memory. It will be hard, and there will be tough choices, but working together we can restore our country, we can rebuild trust and we can give Britain its future back.”

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