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UNITE’S new leader Sharon Graham has confirmed she will not attend the Labour Party conference starting this weekend, saying current industrial disputes “take priority.”
Ms Graham, only elected general secretary last month, said her decision on Tuesday evening was not a snub to party leader Sir Keir Starmer but more about “defending workers.”
She added: “I had a useful meeting with Keir earlier this week and told him it was unlikely I would be at conference.
“I said I would be doing the day job to try to make sure workers don’t pay the price of the pandemic.”
Unite has more than 20 ongoing disputes, including at cereal giant Weetabix where workers face fire-and-rehire threats.
The union’s delegation at conference will be led by its executive council chairman, Tony Woodhouse, and national political lead, Rob MacGregor.
During her election campaign, Ms Graham pledged to commit Unite to “fighting for jobs, pay and conditions” instead of focusing on Labour Party issues.
But she has slammed Sir Keir’s plans to rewrite the rules of leadership elections to reduce party members’ say, saying that “huge debates about rules now is a mistake.”