Major trade unions and the TUC have rebuffed Nigel Farage’s call for unions to affiliate to Reform UK, saying the party is “cosplaying” as workers’ champions and has opposed new employment rights.
Farage issued a call on Tuesday for unions to attend Reform’s conference and to affiliate to the party, and he suggested one union may be on the brink of doing so.
Eleven trade unions are affiliated to the Labour party but a recent poll suggested there was growing support among trade union members for Reform UK.
But leaders of the TUC, GMB and Unison all hit back at Farage’s invitation, saying Reform was the party of “corporate interests” and criticising its opposition to new rights for workers.
In an interview with the Times, Farage said union leaders were “spending their members’ money on policies that their members do not support”. He said: “Reform now runs councils that employ tens of thousands of unionised workers: bin men and women, social workers, care staff, school support workers.
“Unlike the snobbish Tories of old, we will never treat organised labour with contempt. If you represent working people in this country, my door is open. The doors of every Reform council leader from Sunderland to Sandwell are open.”
The TUC general secretary, Paul Nowak, said Farage’s past comments on workers’ rights legislation and plans to repeal the Equality Act spoke for themselves. “Let’s be crystal clear: Reform are no friends of working people. If they were, they wouldn’t be planning to rip up workers’ rights like day one sick pay and protection from fire-and-rehire and zero-hours contracts,” he said.
“Reform can cosplay as champions of workers all they like. But the reality is they’re bankrolled by corporate interests and crypto billionaires who want the rules rigged even further in favour of the rich and powerful, not working people.”
TUC sources pointed to recent comments from Reform’s Andrea Jenkyns, who said last year: “I’ll be honest with you, I don’t like trade unions,” and criticised the employment rights bill.
Unison’s general secretary, Andrea Egan, said: “It’s a con to think Nigel Farage and his rich cronies are interested in unions for anything but cold, hard cash. They don’t believe in basic rights or fair pay and consistently voted against every measure to improve them.”
The GMB general secretary, Gary Smith, called Reform “rebadged Tories” in a speech at the union’s annual event on Sunday. “When I hear Reform saying they’re on the side of metal bashers, I say no chance. The only things Reform want to bash are unions and our members’ rights.
“Reform are targeting the right to organise in places like Amazon, to collectively bargain over their pay, sick pay for all. There’s a cancel culture in Reform and it’s union members’ rights they’re after.”
In his Times interview, Farage said the party would “extend an open offer to trade unions to apply – in good faith – for affiliation to Reform UK. Second, we invite the unions to attend Reform UK’s national conference in September, and engage in discussing the policies of a future Reform government. We want to ensure that what happens in Westminster finally reflects the interests of the working majority.”
A recent poll by JL Partners found Labour and Reform were tied with 28% of the union vote each. It found that members of Unite and GMB were more likely to support Reform.
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