CWU general secretary Dave Ward has praised First Secretary of State Lou Haigh’s speech to the TUC Congress, saying it showed clearly that Andy Burnham’s Labour Government intends to side with working people and work with the trade union movement to rebalance wealth and power.
Speaking after Haigh addressed delegates in Brighton, Ward said:
“Lou Haigh’s excellent speech at #TUC26 couldn’t be clearer: Burnham’s Labour sides with working class people, and alongside our movement, will rebalance power, spread wealth and end the poisonous divisions across this country.”
He added:
“This agenda cannot afford to fail.”
Ward’s comments reflect a growing sense among parts of the union movement that the change of leadership under Burnham has created an opportunity for a closer relationship between Labour in government and organised labour.
Haigh puts working people at centre of Labour message
Haigh’s speech focused heavily on economic inequality, workers’ rights and the need for government to ensure new technology and economic change benefit working people rather than deepen existing divisions.
She also addressed the growing debate around artificial intelligence, arguing that Britain must listen seriously to expert warnings about AI safety while ensuring workers are protected as the technology transforms workplaces.
Her intervention came as unions at Congress debated how Labour’s wider agenda could deliver a new social and economic settlement.
CWU backs ‘new social and economic settlement’
The CWU has brought a motion to Congress calling for Labour to build on the New Deal for Workers and the Employment Rights Act with further reforms.
The motion calls for stronger collective rights, sectoral bargaining, a single status of worker, more insourcing, stronger worker protections around AI and reforms to the TUC itself.
It says the Labour Government must deliver a settlement that:
“rebalances wealth and power in favour of working-class people.”
That language closely mirrors Ward’s reaction to Haigh’s speech and underlines the extent to which the CWU wants unions to play an active role in shaping Labour’s next phase in government.
Unions push Labour to go further
The mood at Congress has been broadly supportive of Burnham’s change in direction, but union leaders are also using the gathering to press ministers for further action.
They have called for stronger rights at work, better public sector pay, more insourcing, tougher safeguards around AI and action to prevent the growing influence of billionaire donors in British politics.
The TUC’s 2026 programme includes debates on collective bargaining, public services, transport, AI and the role of trade unions in reshaping the economy.
Ward sees opportunity under Burnham
Ward has already argued that the arrival of Burnham in Downing Street represents an “historic opportunity” for Labour and the trade union movement to work together on a more ambitious economic agenda.
His reaction to Haigh’s speech reinforces that message.
For the CWU leader, the challenge now is to turn rhetoric about working-class power into tangible changes in wages, bargaining rights, public ownership, technology policy and living standards.
Ward’s message from TUC Congress is that Labour now has an opportunity to reshape the economy around working people — but delivering that promise will require government and unions to work together and ensure the agenda does not lose momentum.
