THE annual Tolpuddle Martyrs Festival, organised by the TUC, brings together thousands of trade unionists, socialists, and progressive campaigners in a collective celebration and commemoration of a 19th-century injustice against six agricultural workers, which became a fundamental cause for workers’ rights.

The legacy of these workers, known to history as the Tolpuddle Martyrs, acts as an important reminder to all trade unionists that the rights of workers to organise, take collective action, and form a union were not granted willingly and were only won following huge sacrifice, solidarity, and collective campaigning, even against forces that seemed overwhelmingly powerful.

The story of the Tolpuddle Martyrs is, therefore, one of inspiration. Every year we gather to meet, discuss, exchange ideas, and, most importantly of all, to organise.

The last 14 years have sharpened our focus, demonstrating clearly that progress is never certain and rights won in the past can be overturned through political ideology.

Since 2010, we have seen our rights as workers and trade unionists slashed and capital prioritised over social progress. We have had a sharp reminder that repressive governments can and will legislate to shackle trade unions, removing rights brick by brick and opening the door for bad employers to exploit workers.

However, the response of trade unions has proved our vital role as the collective voice of workers, and Unison is experiencing strong growth in our membership as we use collective power to fight for workers and make huge advances on pay and conditions across the public sector.

Over the past few months, Unison South West members working at Sodexo, Wiltshire Health and Care, and the Victoria Education Centre have all taken strike action and won.

Each of these disputes was born out of a failure by the employer to pay our members fairly, and each dispute has given rise to power across our movement as other workers look on and recognise what can be achieved when we stick together.

As this goes to press, hundreds of Unison members at University Hospital Plymouth NHS Trust are taking their second round of strike action in the Pay Fair for Patient Care campaign, a Unison campaign that has so far collectively secured 70 million pounds in back pay for years of underpaid work.

This example, like several before, should act as a warning to employers that our members will keep fighting until they are recognised for the invaluable job they do.

Tolpuddle 2024 marks the first festival in 14 years where we gather under the banner of a Labour government. The recent general election has seen the Tories kicked out of power and, in addition to a Britain-wide Labour landslide, in south-west England there has been a political shift from seven to 24 Labour MPs, with a total Tory wipeout in Cornwall.

Unison, as a Labour-affiliated union, will expect swift progress on workers’ rights, with a sharp focus on the Unison campaign for a National Care Service in England. As the largest union in the care sector, we know it is time for a fundamental change in the provision of care, and the Labour Party has pledged their support for our campaign with hundreds of MPs signing up.

However, the general election also highlighted the growth of far-right, populist politics requiring a determined, organised response from everyone in our movement.

We see the poisonous politicisation of immigration, and we, as trade unionists and internationalists, must be clear that people fleeing persecution, often risking their lives in the process, need our solidarity, and we must organise to give them our practical and political support.

I have been coming to Tolpuddle for over 20 years and each year I leave stronger, more determined, and with fire in my veins to fight injustice, racism and inequality, to organise and to win for workers!

Together we can create a future that honours the past and builds a better future for all. We must never let the power of capital overcome the rights of workers to fair pay and decent conditions, and we continue in our campaign for a just and equal world for all.