General Council Report 2026
Introduction
Welcome to the 158th TUC Congress in Brighton.
As always, this is a wonderful opportunity for trade unionists to come together to discuss our priorities for the year ahead. And this year we meet with a real sense of optimism, with the latest figures showing trade union membership up by almost 200,000. As the landmark Employment Rights Act comes into force, including new rights for unions to access workplaces, we have a unique opportunity to go for growth.
And there’s never been more need for strong, effective, growing trade unions than now. These are profoundly turbulent times for working people, with the cost-of-living crisis continuing to hammer families and a record number of young people not in employment, education or training. Meanwhile, the threat posed by overseas actors using donations to buy political influence in the UK and the Mandelson scandal has left trust in mainstream politics hanging by a thread – with right-wing populists and extremists waiting in the wings.
As the landmark Employment Rights Act comes into force, including new rights for unions to access workplaces, we have a unique opportunity to go for growth
This complex, volatile and dangerous environment extends around the world. As I write, devastating conflicts continue to rage in Ukraine and Sudan, while the people of Gaza labour under a deeply flawed and unjust peace. As feared, Donald Trump has unleashed chaos around the world, acting with impunity in Venezuela, threatening Greenland and Cuba, ripping up long-standing global alliances, and imposing punitive tariffs. His illegal war in Iran with Benjamin Netanyahu has killed thousands of innocent civilians and sent economic shockwaves around the world. While the TUC has no truck with the brutal and repressive regime in Tehran, Trump’s illegal and senseless conflict has been disastrous for Iran, the wider region and the global economy.
With the UK still facing a hit from ‘Trumpflation’, the government must pull out all the stops to protect workers, get living standards rising and rebuild our economy and public services. I have repeatedly urged Labour to deliver the change the British people voted for back in July 2024 by implementing the manifesto pledges on which it was elected. And I have urged the new leadership team in Downing Street to put the interests of workers, families and pensioners first.
That’s why the TUC continues to call for ministers to make good on their promise to Make Work Pay. Last December, our movement won a historic victory when the Employment Rights Bill became the Employment Rights Act (ERA), delivering a raft of advances for workers and unions. But, while the ERA is important, it’s not the end of the story: from parental leave to public sector insourcing and a new right to disconnect, there’s still a huge amount for the government to do to deliver on its broader Make Work Pay commitments.
Better work for all must be the cornerstone of an ambitious, far-reaching package of social and economic reform. While the government has done many good things – investing in public services and bringing down NHS waiting lists; renationalising our railways and British Steel; abolishing the two-child benefit cap and lifting hundreds of thousands of children out of poverty – far too little of its agenda has cut through to a public hungry for change. Following May’s disastrous election results, the Labour government must now show working-class people clearly and unequivocally that it’s on their side. From new taxes on obscene wealth and bank profits to a closer relationship with Europe to kickstart growth, trade and jobs, nothing should be off limits.
In the spring, we launched our Unity Works campaign, engaging our members around a message of hope and showing that together we can change
Fail to act, and the alternative is clear: the populist and far right are gaining ground with millions of voters. That’s why the TUC is working with unions to train reps to have difficult conversations at work, why we’ve set out our vision of a fair, managed, values-based migration system and why we’re exposing the vast gulf between what Reform says and what it would do. Despite stronger rights at work being overwhelmingly popular with Reform voters, Nigel Farage’s party would repeal the ERA alongside the Equality Act and Renters’ Rights Act. And this would be accompanied by attacks on public sector pay and pensions and another round of eye-watering austerity Britain can scarcely afford.
In the spring, we launched our Unity Works campaign, engaging our members around a message of hope and showing that together we can win change. Our asks are straightforward: better jobs, rights and services; fair taxes; and cleaner politics. On the latter, we want more transparency and accountability in our politics and political funding, so overseas wealth, power and money cannot subvert our democracy.
When overseas-based crypto magnates can make huge donations to Reform and billionaire-owned social media platforms can profit from amplifying racist, misogynistic and homophobic voices, it’s clear our political debate is being poisoned. It’s time to clean up our politics and time to ensure politics delivers for working people.
Our job as trade unionists will always be to give working people hope, the sense that together we can win a better future. And we must do so amid a world that is changing at breakneck speed. AI is already transforming many of our industries and the jobs millions of us do. The climate emergency underlines the need invest in the cleaner, greener technologies that will power future growth while securing the livelihoods of workers in the North Sea.
And the intensification of global competition demands we support good, unionised jobs in sectors from chemicals to ceramics, steel, automotive, defence and energy.
But while we have a massive job of work on our hands, I’m convinced we can win the change working people crave. Throughout our history, unions have harnessed the power of collective action to secure huge social advances, from shorter working hours to health and safety, from workplace pensions to the minimum wage. With union membership on an upward trajectory and important new rights on the statute book, we have a real opportunity to shape a better future. Let’s seize it.
Here’s to a brilliant Congress.
Solidarity!
Paul Nowak
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