Len McCluskey General Secretary Unite
Unite meets in Brighton this week in most troubling times for our country.
Faith in the institutions forming the pillars of national life - from the political class to the press - has collapsed.
Fear stalks the global markets, and yet our political leaders seem incapable of steering a course out of the despair.
At home, our government offers no hope to the millions on the dole. Calls from the sensible majority to rein in economic sadism and instead grow the economy go unheeded, while inhuman ideas like slashing benefits and access to employment tribunals take hold.
Our members understandably look to their union to provide a harbour in this storm.
Growing this union is at the core of how we will provide the vibrant opposition to this government working people need. Organising and the 100 per cent drive - priorities for each and every officer - will build Unite into the most formidable force for working people.
Extending the reach of this union informs another Unite initiative - the launch of our community membership.
By getting back into our communities we can remind them our values are theirs too. And if we don't reach out, then who will?
Unite will remain first and above all an organisation representing people at work. But if working people know what Unite is and what we can offer even before they enter or re-enter the workplace, then we become a natural and integral part of the fabric of their lives, from cradle to grave.
We are in the midst of an economic crisis of epic proportions. In the 1970s such crises were blamed wrongly on over-powerful trade unions. Today no-one can deny that it is unregulated, untamed capitalism to blame.
Giving free rein to the greed and drive for profit has brought us to the brink of a second recession.
Unemployment is at its highest for a generation - one million young people out of work and facing a future of despair while child poverty soars once again.
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