IT GOES without saying that this year’s STUC Congress comes at a pivotal moment for our movement, our class and our politics.

Our movement is mobile. It’s angry. It’s active and it’s loud. We’ve not seen the sustained, united levels of public outcry and energy from every corner of our affiliation for generations.

We have seen working people, led by the delegates attending STUC Congress, taking ownership of their lives, demanding the means of a better life.

The most inspiring, if unsurprising, part of this? It’s worked. Industrial action works. Strike action works. When collectivised, workers from every sector can bring employers, agencies and, yes, even governments to heel.

The wider public, who have been continuously supportive of our causes, are waking up to the fact that banding together as a unit — a solid union movement — can deliver real results.

We’ve witnessed stunning successes from workers across our country, from teachers to cleansing workers to train operators to the NHS staff. Without the strength of their collective action — their superhuman endeavour — I shudder to think what dire straits they would be in.

But we haven’t all won. Our movement doesn’t stop until all workers, from every workplace, share in the hard-won victories. This isn’t a time to let up. We must harness our collective spirit to ensure those still on the pavements and the pickets get the rewards they deserve.

Our class is angry. This cost-of-living crisis is a humanitarian emergency, plain and simple. It’s encompassed every fibre of working people’s lives and it’s impacted those who had the least to begin with. Our people. Our class. Those we represent.

For years our movement has demonstrated, to bosses and governments, that pay was too low, energy and rent was too high and that those at the top weren’t taxed enough. This wasn’t a crisis of our making — and it certainly isn’t one working people should be paying for — but the political class caused this through inaction. Inaction on poverty. Inaction on energy. Inaction on inflation.

That is now coming home to roost. It’s not the billionaires who are struggling to heat their homes or hide every time a bill pops through the post. It’s not the CEOs or the FTSE 500 bosses who feel the sharp hunger pangs because they can’t afford to eat. It was workers — some of our lowest paid — that felt the cruelty of this crisis.

This week in Dundee, we aim to change that.

Congress is the opportunity to tell those in power what we need from them. On taxation, a National Care Service, local democracy, equalities and much more besides.

This isn’t just an ordinary gathering. I’ve been at many Congresses in the past, but never have I seen the value of trade unions so well demonstrated. We have proved to the country, from the people to the politicians to the press, just how vital we are to the social fabric of Scotland.

When we come together, like we are this week in our 126th Congress, we tell the stories of our people. Those who need support. Those crying out for a voice. Those who are at the front line of our struggles and those who, through their hard work and solidarity, have won notable successes this past year.

Now is the time to kick on. We ensure that no worker is left behind. We guarantee that governments — Scottish and British — listen to us when we demand better.

There is no better time. The politics of our nation stand at a critical juncture. While there is a new First Minister, we must ensure this isn’t business as usual. We have set our stall out early; that the Scottish government must deliver more than warm words and soundbites. To that end, we’re pleased that Humza Yousaf will — in one of his first keynote speeches as First Minister — address our movement.

He will hear first hand how we need real action on tax, on redistributing wealth and spreading the rich resources of our nation.

As will Angela Rayner and Anas Sarwar; British and Scottish Labour must be far more than just opposition — they must act and, crucially, aim to deliver real social progress for the people of these isles.

Being marginally better than the Tories won’t inspire our affiliates to the ballot box. Setting out a radical, bold vision for Scotland, one that prioritises people over profit and workers over wealth will help go a long way in gaining the trust of our movement.

It is that movement that will make itself clear this week and we make no apologies for it. Trade unions, led by our Congress delegates, have shown they’re up for the fight. It is a fight we’re winning and shows no sign of relenting.