IN THE midst of a leadership election it’s easy for our party to spend too much time focusing on those seeking to lead the movement and not enough time on the grassroots of the Labour Party.

Our members are the heart and soul of Labour and their voices and actions are just as important as the party leader’s or shadow cabinet members. 

The groundswell of opinion against the latest Tory attacks on the trade union movement is a great example of party members and supporters directly taking the Tories to task alongside their elected representatives.

When I heard about the government’s ideologically driven plan to make it more difficult for unions to protect the rights of their members and for workers to make political donations, I asked all Labour members, registered supporters and affiliated supporters to sign a petition against the proposals. 

Six thousand people signed it within three hours. Now, a staggering 23,700 have put their names to my petition against David Cameron’s attack on workers’ rights, a very powerful signal that the Tories can’t take the country for granted.

That should tell us something. Over the course of this Parliament, the job of opposing the government cannot rest solely with the next Labour leader or the shadow cabinet. It must also be the responsibility of everyone who cares deeply about fairness, equality, social justice and workers’ rights.

I can understand why so many people have taken issue with this proposed Bill. It sets an arbitrary threshold that needs to be met if a planned strike is to go ahead. I cannot overstate the effect this could have on the trade union movement — this will render the right to strike meaningless and would remove one of the most important democratic rights a citizen has.

Shamefully, this significant curtailing of the right to strike didn’t even appear in the Conservatives’ election manifesto and half of the Cabinet, including Secretary of State for Business Sajid Javid, would not have met the 40 per cent threshold themselves.

The Bill also makes it more difficult for hard-working people to make political contributions. The system that we have in place at the moment is convenient for both members and unions. 

The tens of thousands who have signed my petition are astonished that the Tories would cynically attack the funding of their opponents while allowing their party to be flooded with hedge fund money. 

The best way to avoid industrial action is for unions and employers to work together to reach compromises through proper negotiation. What worries all of us is that this legislation seeks to pit workers against employers and will make it harder for successful conclusions to be reached when there are disputes.

All of this matters to me because I believe deeply in Labour’s continued relationship with the trade union movement. As the granddaughter of a miner and the daughter of a trade unionist, I know the essential role of unions to protect and advance the rights of workers and as leader of the Labour Party, I want a strong ongoing relationship between Labour and the unions.

We must change the tone of today’s conversations about trade unions. The Labour Party and trade unions have worked together for over a century to advance workers’ rights, laws protecting people from discrimination and women’s equality and we should celebrate that.

There’s also so much more that could be done. I want to work with trade unions in a shared mission to end maternity discrimination for good. For too many women, starting a family means finishing their career. I was the first government minister to take maternity leave — and know from experience that some people are more supportive than others.

I want to work with unions to create the high-skilled, high-productivity jobs of the future. I have set an ambition for the British economy — public and private — of 3 per cent GDP investment in science, research and development — including cutting-edge green technologies. This could help us deliver two million more manufacturing jobs.

David Cameron needs to know that we won’t let him attack trade unions and strip workers’ rights quietly. Over the past few weeks we’ve seen how strong our collective voice can be, but we’re in this situation because we didn’t win in May.

I’m standing to be Labour leader and the first female Labour prime minister not only because we need to be a strong and effective opposition that defends the rights of workers but because we need a credible vision for the future to win in 2020. 

We’re the Labour Party and it’s not enough for us to be angry at the world — we have a responsibility to change the world for the sake of all those who need a Labour government. 

Carolyn Jones – Director, Institute of Employment Rights

I AGREE that politics should start with the “grassroots.” But for too long the grassroots of the labour movement have been burdened with “the most restrictive laws on trade unions in the Western world.”

Unfortunately, past Labour leaders failed to remove that burden, making it hard for unions to protect workers, hence the massive rise in insecurity and inequality.

This latest Tory Bill is one step too far and, like Yvette Cooper, we don’t intend to let Cameron “attack trade unions and strip workers’ rights quietly.”

And that’s not just because we are angry. It’s because we deserve better. I hope all the leader hopefuls will agree to work with us to kill this Bill and to commit to a Trade Union Freedom Bill that the grassroots can support, because, as Cooper says: “We have a responsibility to change the world."

Anita Wright – President, National Assembly of Women

YVETTE COOPER stresses the positive role of unions and it’s true that if you are a union member you are more likely to have better pay and conditions, greater equality in the workplace and access to training and development.

Women now make up over 53 per cent of union membership and are making their voices heard in the workplace and in local communities to preserve these rights and to save vital services.

Along with other anti-austerity campaigners, unions are helping to articulate alternative political, economic and social policies which are not simply about managing the capitalist system in the false belief that if you tinker with the economy it will deliver a better life for everyone.

The Labour Party needs a leader who will be prepared to work with this movement if we are really going to to deliver a fairer, more just and more equal society.

Louise Raw – Feminist historian

AS A die-hard union woman, I’m pleased to see Yvette Cooper coming out strongly against the proposed new raft of Tory attacks on the movement.

I have more of a problem with what she doesn’t say that what she does. Yes, she did draw up a petition opposing the new Bill, but I gave up on signing it, and in fact made a complaint about it because it was virtually impossible put your name to without also registering as a Cooper supporter — somewhat in contradiction with her opening claim that it’s members, not the leadership contest, which matters most here. 

I couldn’t agree more that it’s time to “change the conversation” about unions. The problem is, it was time 20-plus years ago. The Tories’ manifesto for the 1997 election made it clear they were going to attack union rights and striking rights further — this was never going to go away, having been an openly declared cornerstone of their ideology since Thatcherism. 

Though I dislike seeing Cooper unfairly painted with what it’s hard to avoid calling the Balls brush, and I am sure she is sincerely and rightly proud of her union connections, she has been a shadow minister four times now. 

She therefore needs to explain Labour’s previous uncomfortable silence, and sometimes compliance, as unions were attacked to ward off suspicions that her words are too little and too late, and influenced by the Corbyn factor.

Ben Chacko – Editor, Morning Star

DEFEATING the unjustifiable assault on working people’s rights that is the Trade Union Bill is the top priority for Britain’s left and it is good to see Yvette Cooper recognises that.

It would be good to get some more clarity on how she feels the Bill can be fought. Nothing in this article tells us whether a Cooper-led Labour Party would stand by trade unions resisting this attack on their democratic rights if the unjust Bill becomes an unjust law.

Her previous slurs on the concept of public ownership as moving “back to the ’70s” suggest she is out of touch with majority opinion not just in the trade union movement, but among the public as a whole, while her advocacy of social partnership and EU membership implies a lack of realism about the ruthlessness of big business.

If we have a “responsibility to change the world,” then we would be ill-advised to back a candidate who has made none of the key commitments on redistribution, ownership and workers’ rights that Britain so desperately needs.

Graham Stevenson – Communist Party national trade union organiser

IT’S to be welcomed that Yvette Cooper signs up for opposition to this batch of Tory anti-union legislation. But what about the previous five tranches of such viciousness?

The first Bill, promoted by Norman Tebbit over three decades ago, did the worst damage and it remains largely untouched.

Merely killing this latest Bill, which will need a united campaign to win, will still leave Britain’s unions in the most shackled legal status across the developed world. What about that?

The best way to reverse the downward spiral of terms and conditions, which has been so savage that younger workers no longer understand what “premium time” means when working unsocial hours, is to free the unions.

There is no level playing field for negotiators to talk over. Workers are at the soggy end of the pitch and active trade unionists need to hear Labour politicians saying what they will do to redress the balance of power in the favour of working people.