In it, she spoke of the need for Holyrood to make decisions on Scotland’s future over Westminster, celebrated recent Scottish Government policies backed by the trade union movement, and urged ministers to go further to deliver progress for working people.
She received a standing ovation for the speech, which you can read in full below.
Friends, I want to start by thanking you for inviting me to address your conference today.
I address you as a representative of over 550,000 workers in Scotland who belong to Scotland’s Trade Union Movement.
And on behalf of those workers, I welcome the approach from every single SNP First Minister, since you’ve formed the Scottish Government, to treat trade unions as critical but respected partners in the business of that government.
I also welcome that one of the first actions your current First Minister, John Swinney, took after taking office last year was to engage directly with the STUC. He wanted to hear first-hand what issues mattered most to the workers of Scotland – from public sector pay, to the cost-of-living crisis, to Grangemouth.
And for us, that’s critical: to have a First Minister who understands the role trade unions have in the tapestry of Scotland. One who understands that trade union issues are the issues that matter to the people of Scotland.
And over recent years, your Government has addressed many of those issues.
Your Government increased the Scottish Child Payment, which has lifted thousands of people out of poverty. That’s a trade union issue.
You’ve taken our rail operator into public ownership and ended peak fares. That’s a trade union issue.
Last month, you introduced a groundbreaking furlough scheme at Alexander Dennis to protect jobs and our domestic industry. That’s a trade union issue.
And your progressive income tax changes have raised an additional £1.7 billion in revenue for the Scottish Budget to spend on supporting people in poverty and defending our creaking public services. That’s a trade union issue too.
And I can also say that through a decade and a half of attacks on trade union freedom from the Tory Government, you have remained steadfast in supporting us.
On that note, Conference, I want to pay tribute to Chris Stephens. As an MP, Chris was at every picket line, at every protest, and at every single vote. Every time our movement needed an ally and a voice inside Westminster, he was there.
And now, with Scotland’s longstanding commitment to Fair Work, and the UK Government’s new Employment Rights Bill coming in, we can look forward with some hope to a country where decent rights for workers can again become a driving force for dignity and economic growth.
But of course, respecting workers’ voices and the work they do means sometimes hearing things you might not like to hear. And the key message we are sending today to both our Scottish and UK Governments is that we need rapid action and rapid delivery on the priorities of working-class people.
Because the UK Government has so far failed to deliver on too many of the changes they promised.
They have failed to lift the two-child benefit cap.
They have failed our pensioners by cutting their Winter Fuel Allowance.
They have failed those in need by trying to decimate our welfare system.
They continue to fail to realise that taxing wealth is the first step in delivering decent public services and a fair financial settlement for Scotland.
While internationally, they have failed to acknowledge the genocide that has been perpetrated against the Palestinian people.
And when Governments fail to act, there are consequences.
The people of Scotland are demanding better. They want to see the change that was promised to them. And we in the trade union movement cannot stand silent whilst austerity continues to cause carnage in our communities and working people are left feeling betrayed and forgotten yet again.
Because every cut made, every promise broken, every opportunity to act that is missed by both our Governments kills off people’s hope and trust in politics. It poisons our democracy, and it is a gift to the far right.
And let me be very clear: cuts are cuts, and we condemn them whether the source of the decision lies with Holyrood or Westminster – and without fear or favour.
So here in Scotland, when our dedicated school teachers are pushed to the point of balloting for industrial action over workload, it’s time for the Scottish Government to act.
When bad bosses routinely flout Fair Work agreements and principles but still receive public funds, it’s time to act.
When firefighters – the people who risk their lives to keep us safe – sound the alarm over station closures, it’s time to act.
When our university workers are balloting over a jobs and cuts crisis, and FE colleges are shutting down campuses, it’s time to act.
And when our social care workers are still so short of the £15 per hour that, in truth, they needed a decade ago – then it’s definitely time to act.
And there is no time to lose, Conference. The dangers are clear and growing daily. And in times like these, progressive Scotland must unite – with those of every party, union, religion, sex and more – coming together to celebrate our diversity and to stand shoulder to shoulder…
With migrants,
With refugees,
With Muslims,
With the Jewish people, who were so horrifically targeted in Manchester last week,
With trans people,
With women being targeted by the far right, and all others in need.
Earlier this week, I was proud to join a platform of women from across Scotland – including Councillor Nadia El Nakla and former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon – at the launch event for Women Against the Far Right. And our message was clear: we will not outsource our safety to anyone, let alone those who seek to colonise our voice to further an agenda of hatred and division.
And it’s no surprise that those who would sow division here are also the friends of the invaders abroad.
Farage chooses Putin. We choose the Ukrainian people.
They choose Netanyahu. We choose the children of Gaza.
And I want to pay particular tribute to the leadership and humanity of Humza Yousaf. In his time as First Minister, when the world’s leaders failed to condemn genocide, he bravely spoke out.
And as we speak out against malign forces abroad, I want to welcome John Swinney’s leadership in calling out malign forces at home.
When the First Minister called his summit against the far right in Scotland earlier this year, the STUC was among the first to sign up.
But, as I said to him and all the partners in the room, a summit cannot be a talking shop. It must be the start of a process, and there is a need to reflect on the responsibility of government to be part of the solution by more directly addressing the poverty and real challenges far too many across Scotland are facing.
Be under no illusion: the road of ever-increasing inequality is a road to ruin.
Those in our communities who feel abandoned and forgotten need to believe they have a government fighting their corner.
They need secure, unionised work that pays the bills and gives their family the dignity of decent living standards.
They need high-quality public services – health, education, transport and social care – that support them to navigate life successfully.
And they need affordable, high-quality housing.
For the Scottish Government, that means scrapping the council tax and introducing a truly proportional property tax.
And it means introducing specific wealth taxes that can happen here and now within the current powers of the Scottish Parliament.
This week, the STUC, alongside Tax Justice Scotland, revealed that just five families in Scotland have as much wealth – almost £20 billion – as a quarter of our population.
While a mere 2% wealth tax on Scotland’s richest 10 families could raise almost half a billion pounds.
That equates to almost 13,000 nurses, 13,500 firefighters, or 17,000 home care workers.
Almost 80% of Scots support a wealth tax, and we need the Scottish Government to embrace popular, progressive measures like these. With these levels of inequality, the days of politicians being all things to all people have gone. Our people need politicians prepared to stand up to the bosses and the billionaires.
That’s where we pay tribute to the SNP Trade Union Group, who for years – alongside members across this hall – have brought progressive measures on tax, on public energy, on achieving a just transition, on a truly public National Care Service, and much more besides.
These are the SNP policies that we must see the Scottish Government go further and faster on. And I implore everyone in this hall to call on your Government to realise the progressive, worker-led ideas you’ve already passed as party policy.
Because if we do, we realise a Just Transition for Scotland’s workers with a fully formed industrial strategy – with a worker-led plan that strengthens our supply chains and prioritises domestic manufacturing.
That means boats and ships built in Scotland, forged in the steelworks of Dalzell, by the people of Scotland.
It means fully backing our nationalised industry and giving a direct award – such as the Lord of The Isles ferry – to Ferguson Marine, which will benefit the wider community in Inverclyde.
And we know Scotland needs the power to do better.
We need stronger powers over borrowing,
Over migration,
Over employment,
Over further taxation,
And more.
There are differing views across our movement – and yes, even across yours – on how such powers are best delivered. But I have no hesitation in saying this:
Whatever the constitutional future of Scotland may hold, it must be the people of Scotland who decide.
And if the question of self-determination arises again – if there is a pro-independence majority in the Scottish Parliament – then it is for our Parliament, Scotland’s Parliament, to hold that referendum if it so chooses.
Because that is democracy. And if that is the will of the people of Scotland, then no Westminster Government should deny that wish.
But whatever happens about our constitutional future, our people can’t afford to wait any longer.
The decisions made in the next six to nine months – on tax, on public services, and on whose side our politicians are on – will be crucial for generations to come.
To borrow a phrase: we must work as if we live in the early days of a better nation.
And that work starts now.
On October 25th in Edinburgh, the Trade Union Movement, alongside the Poverty Alliance and Civic Scotland, are coming together to Demand Better.
In our Scotland Demands Better March and Rally, we are uniting people to demand the changes we need from our Governments to build a society where everyone can thrive and prosper.
This powerful coalition will reject the politics of hatred and division, but we are absolutely demanding radical change and an urgent shift toward the politics of delivery.
And we need you too. We need everyone across this hall and everyone across Scotland to rally together in unity against those who want to divide us.
That is my message to you as I conclude.
When we come together, working people possess more power than we dare to realise. Everyone in this conference hall possesses that power. And when people come together with clear demands, Governments are compelled to deliver.
Scotland already has the wealth. We have the talent. We have the resources to build a fairer, greener, more equal nation.
If you share in that vision, then get involved. Let’s make October 25th the day that we unite all working people who want a more progressive Scotland, where every person in every community prospers. And let’s march forward together.
