Rebuilding isn’t just about repairing what’s broken – it’s creating something new
On the daily, trade unionists fight against a tidal wave of inequality of opportunity, and of a politics that too often feels distant, detached.
And yet we are also at a moment of possibility. Because every movement, every campaign, every union branch, every rep, every working person has power. Power to shape what comes next. Power to come together and start the conversation. Power to reclaim the promise of Wales for all our people. Not in a hateful way, but with a united and unified voice.
Rebuilding Unity conference
TUC Cymru recently held a conference called Rebuilding Unity. It was a day for trade unionists to come together to discuss the challenges we face between now and the May 2026 Senedd election.
We know that there are divisions in our communities, but a hundred trade unionists travelled to Swansea because they don’t want to live in a fractured, divided world. They want better. They want to rebuild, to make a community for themselves, their family and for everyone in Wales.
The next eight months is our chance to demand a Wales that works for working people. A Wales that doesn’t treat our public services as a cost, but as our lifeline. A Wales where good, secure work, not zero-hours uncertainty, is the norm. Where every child, every family, has the dignity of a decent home, the security of a living wage, and access to good schools, good care, a working hospital, a clean environment.
We must not let this period of history be written by those who seek to divide us
We are seeing the rise of populist movements, voices offering discontent, promising change, speaking to frustrations. Disillusionment is real. In parts of our communities, people feel left behind. And so, they look for alternatives. There are those political parties that pray on this frustration and cultivate it and grow it until they breed hate.
One thing is certain. If we do nothing, the narrative will be written without us, by people who don’t share our values, or understand the real struggles of ordinary people.
The Wales we want to see
Now, more than ever, trade unionists must come together to create the Wales we want to see.
Public services in Wales are the backbone of our communities. From the health boards to care workers, from teachers to support staff. Yet they have been stretched to breaking point. We cannot accept a future in which communities wait longer, suffer more, because the system is underfunded, understaffed and undervalued.
Our economy depends on stable jobs, on local supply chains, on fair pay. Insecure contracts, low wage sectors, and precarious work corrode dignity and undermine the possibility of building stable lives. We need people at every level to earn a living they can rely on.
Inequality threatens not just fairness, but social cohesion. If people feel cut off, unheard, invisible, the risk is that fear and frustration will fuel division, not build solidarity. For too long, politicians haven’t spoken to us as people, we are numbers on a spreadsheet or tropes on a mosaic constituency voting sheet. As trade unionists we have another way to get our voices heard and we need to use that now more than ever.
The climate emergency demands action. Green jobs, investment in clean industries, in public transport, in renewable energy these are not “nice to haves.” They are essentials for our future, for our children, for our communities.
It’s time to take action
So what must we, as trade unionists, do?
Firstly, we need to play to our strengths. The networks we have, the union branches, the local community groups. They are all places of hope. When a hospital threatens cuts, when a school is under threat, when workers are denied rights, we need to stand up together. Support each other. Protect each other. We look out for each other.
Second, cultivate leadership. Because in every workplace, there are people who care, people who can organise, people whose voices can become powerful. We must continue investing in our programmes like the Women’s Activist Development Programme, the Black Activist Development Programme and our Young Workers’ Activist Programme. We must ensure that marginalised voices are heard.
Third, engage politically. Not just up to May 2026, though that is critical, but constantly. Hold elected representatives, of whatever party, to account. Demand manifestos that put working people first. Vote, campaign, make clear our expectations. Let no political platform go unchallenged if it does not promise justice, fairness, opportunity.
Fourth, build alliances. Trade unionists have always worked through coalitions. We work across sectors, across communities, with activists, with civic society. Our struggles intersect: against poverty, for racial justice, for gender equality, for environmental sustainability. Let us find those common causes and let us be loud in our insistence that policies must reflect these intersections.
Trade unionists must lead
I know this work is hard. I know that sometimes it feels that change is slow, that progress is always on the horizon but never quite arrives. But we have histories to draw on, traditions to root ourselves in, examples of victories won by ordinary people, organising together. And we can do it again.
Because rebuilding isn’t just about repairing what has been broken. It’s about creating something new, something better. Something that is uniquely Welsh. In May 2026, the people of Wales will have a choice. Not just about who runs the Senedd but about what kind of Wales we want. Let’s make sure that choice is clear. That the choice is between fairness and division; between community and isolation; between hope and cynicism.
And in that choice, we trade unionists must lead. Not from behind. Not quietly. But boldly. Confidently. Unafraid. Because the future demands nothing less.
Next steps in Rebuilding Unity
Concerned with the growing divide at work and in our society? Join our series of webinars to give you the tools to handle divisive talk and bring people back together
Topics include social care, the green economy, online communities, immigration and culture. Each webinar will give you in-depth information to equip you to have conversations on these topics with colleagues and friends with different views from your own.