CWU Leaders Urge Bravery as Labour Opens Annual Conference

Union Matters September 29 2025

Communication Workers Union leaders called for “bravery” in tackling the crisis facing British workers today, as Labour conference began in earnest.

Speaking on the first day of the Liverpool event which included keynote speeches by Chancellor Rachel Reeves and ministers Shabana Mahmood and Lisa Nandy, CWU General Secretary Dave Ward moved a composite motion which pointed to skyrocketing bills and slowing growth to show how “workers are bearing the brunt of a broken economic model”.

Speaking for the motion, which urged the government to end austerity, freeze energy price rises and end infrastructural collapse by progressive taxation, Dave drew lessons from the 1945 Labour government and the 1930s administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States as examples of “the bravery we need”.

“Nobody is in denial of the scale of the challenges that this Labour government faces as a result of the Tories deliberately creating an economy that is founded on low pay, insecure work and grotesque levels of inequality.

“But it’s not brave to bend the knee to big business when there is such an imbalance of power and wealth.

“It’s not brave to cut benefits of disabled people when you haven’t put forward a plan to properly tax wealth.”

Thanking Keir Starmer for his recognition that “the way to defeat Reform is not to out-Farage Farage”, Dave added that “the only way you are going to defeat Reform is not a personality battle, but a policy battle that fundamentally improves people’s lives.

“This country is desperate for a radical solution – working people need a radical solution.”

His arguments were followed by CWU Deputy General Secretary Karen Rose, who drew attention to the treatment of CWU members working as content moderators for TikTok, who have been under threat of mass redundancies after having announced a workplace union recognition ballot.

“This was a deliberate move by TikTok’s senior leadership to thwart our organising and to union-bust.

“These actions are not only disgraceful in terms of their impact on workers, but they also pose a huge threat to online safety.’

Karen called on the government to work unions in developing a technology workers’ rights charter that could “create robust protections” around AI usage and prevent offshoring of British jobs.

Calling on the examples of workers across industrial sectors and the country at large, she said that the “unlimited power” granted to tech companies must be tackled, and that “our government must take action.”

“We must stand up to the tech giants, put a stop to uncontrolled AI, keep good jobs in the UK and safeguard both citizens and workers.”