TUC president Matt Wrack warned Sir Keir Starmer today that he will need to take swift action on workers rights’ and public-sector pay should Labour win the general election.

He said that Sir Keir should convene a meeting with trade union leaders to hear their priorities within days of becoming Prime Minister.

Such summits between ministers and unions should take place regularly as the “patience of union members will not hold out for very long,” said Mr Wrack, who is also general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union.

“If there is a honeymoon for Labour, it could be short-lived unless the government responds to the pent-up anger after 14 years of pay restraint,” he told the Guardian.

“We want a pay rise. There are ways of raising taxes on the richest that would help a Labour government deliver.”

In its New Deal For Workers, the party has pledged to ban zero-hours contracts, end employers’ “fire and rehire” abuses and improve employment rights, with legislation to be introduced within the first 100 days of Labour government.

Mr Wrack said unions were concerned that Sir Keir could delay the plan or water down its measures due to lobbying from business groups, suggesting that the Labour leader could buy himself some time on pay rises by moving quickly to deliver on workers’ rights.

Action would need to be taken “pretty quickly” to help workers struggling on low incomes or Labour will soon face the risk of strikes, he added.

“I don’t want to rush into saying there will be a winter of discontent or anything like that, but a Labour government will need to listen to the unions,” Mr Wrack said.

“People want some recompense for the losses they suffered during the pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis.”

“The 14 years of attacks on pay are unprecedented in the modern era and a Labour government is going to have to do something about it. I don’t think the patience of union members will hold out for very long.”

A spokeswoman for left-wing group Momentum said: “The next Labour government must put workers’ rights at the forefront.

“That means implementing the New Deal for Working People in full, as well as committing to a £15 per hour minimum wage, supporting striking workers and ending the two-child benefit cap.

“Anything less would perpetuate the Tories’ low pay, exploitation-based economy and open up space for the far right.”