Skip to main content
Work with the NEU
It's crunch time for the trade union movement
During the pandemic we’ve seen how powerful unions can be – we must be bolder in promoting what we want and how we're going to get it, argues CWU general secretary DAVE WARD
Posties on the picketline

IT’S crunch time for the government. The temporary nature of the measures taken in response to the coronavirus pandemic are now coming up against the reality – that this is a public health crisis that is going to be with us for a long time and is going to create long-running economic problems.

It feels like we’re on the brink of disaster. The short extension to the evictions ban will soon be up. The approaching end to the furlough scheme is one of the biggest concerns. So what’s the government going to do? Will we see a return to 1980s levels of unemployment – because the steps announced so far are just not going to save enough jobs to stave off catastrophe?

No sector of the workforce will be safe from the economic storm coming our way if that’s the case. But it doesn’t have to be.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
Great Star-t: TUC Cymru general secretary Laura Doel
Features / 2 August 2026
2 August 2026

The new TUC Cymru general secretary speaks to Morning Star Wales reporter David Nicholson about her trade union background and ambitions for the movement

TUC GENERAL SECRETARY: Paul Nowak
Employment Rights Act / 17 July 2026
17 July 2026

TUC general secretary PAUL NOWAK tells Ben Chacko that Labour can win back disillusioned voters by delivering workplace reforms, rebuilding trust and challenging the far right’s growing influence

Jeremy Corbyn, with Zarah Sultana (not pictured) speaking at a discussion on Your Party, their new political party, at The World Transformed conference, at Niamos Radical Arts Centre in Hulme, Manchester. Picture date: Friday October 10, 2025
Your Party Conference 2025 / 28 November 2025
28 November 2025

With ‘Your Party’ holding its founding conference in Liverpool this weekend, JEREMY CORBYN speaks to Morning Star editor Ben Chacko about its potential, its priorities — and a few of its controversies too

A general view of Royal Mail vans, May 221, 2013
Voices of Scotland / 14 October 2025
14 October 2025

Royal Mail’s job quality has plummeted, with gruelling hours, two-tier pay, intense surveillance, and poor work-life balance for postal workers — but our union is fighting back, writes CWU branch secretary JOHN CARSON