I had a big birthday last year.  
 
As anyone who can attest to having one, it can be a wee bit daunting. It allows for reflection. My trade union journey began almost 30 years ago working in the benefits agency, right at the start of the Blair Government. There was hope. There was optimism. There was a crashing wave of momentum that propelled New Labour to victory and reinforced the belief that ‘things can only get better’. 
 
This isn’t a commentary on Blairism – I’d need more than 1000 words for that. It’s a reflection that, upon the election of the last Labour Government, I was fully involved in the trade union movement as a shop steward advocating for greater rights and protections for workers. Not much has changed - just my job title.  

 But now there’s a new generation of workers who have known nothing but Tory Government. Some will be 14 years into their career and have experienced nothing but a relentless, austerity-craving, public sector-cutting Conservative cabal in charge. A nation that’s had growth and optimism sucked out of it to be replaced by culture wars and othering.  
 
This is dangerous and, in part, explains the concerning total of votes Reform managed to gather in a few short weeks since Farage u-turned and stood in the election. A party that barely had foot soldiers, with paper candidates in unwinnable seats, managed to gather millions of supporters which will have included a disconcerting number of young voters. 
 
When you rob an entire generation of hope, don’t be surprised when they turn to an elite charlatan who claims to offer an apparent solution. 

Sir Keir Starmer's Labour have swept to powerSir Keir Starmer's Labour have swept to power (Image: PA)

  A Labour Government has an opportunity to restore hope and to restore standards within public life, wrestling back votes from Farage. But they have a job on their hands. The clock is ticking towards the Scottish Parliament election in 2026 in addition to the next general election. The same trick won’t work twice. The next time, the electorate won’t be voting to just get one party out; they’ll be judging whether to keep the Labour Party in.   

  It will be new kids on the block doing the judging. The kind that attended our STUC Youth Conference over the weekend – and they’re growing in numbers. Our research has shown a stunning 12% increase in the number of young members joining trade unions over the past year. This is to be celebrated. With the cost-of-living crisis still ongoing and young workers disproportionately impacted by low pay and higher rent costs, people are seeing the value of their trade union subs. It's an outlay, yes, especially in times of hardship but it pays for itself many times over once workers collectivise and win together.  
 
One of those young members, Stewart Duncan from the RMT, didn’t hold back when discussing how young trade unionists are being politicised outwith traditional party-political structures: 
 
“For me, the trade union movement gives young members a platform to become politically aware but through a different dynamic. It’s not the constitution; it’s class. In Scotland, we have low pay, insecure conditions and unaffordable housing. 

"That won’t instantly change from constitutional reform nor from political parties rearranging deckchairs on the Titanic. The trade union movement are educating members – whether that be through conferences or courses – to be aware of how political structures and politicians should operate in our favour, not the other way around.” 

  Lauren Harper of Unite the Union was similarly scathing of politicians and their failure to get to grips with the crisis of low pay for young people.

“It’s inexcusable for successive governments to not have abolished the discriminatory rates of youth pay in Scotland. That task now falls to the new Labour Government. They must stand by their promise and lift the pay for young people throughout the country. 

Roz Foyer of the STUCRoz Foyer of the STUC (Image: PA)

  As far as I’m aware, you don’t get a young person’s discount on rent, heating or shopping. Why then should our labour be worth less than our colleagues? We’ve still got the same outgoings; why then should we accept less into our pockets?  We must hold the politician's feet to the fire, including the Prime Ministers, for the promises they have given to our generation.” 

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These are the voices of the disaffected youth but with a caveat. They’re not full of apathy. They’re full of anger. Anger that is being directed at both governments on either side of Hadrian’s Wall for their shortcomings. From failures on climate change targets to the future of Grangemouth, they’re informed, well-read and ready to spring into action when their communities are threatened with cuts. 

  Don’t then treat young workers with contempt or with a patronising ruffle of the hair, telling them of their importance whilst simultaneously ignoring the causes that matter to them.  
 
For too long have young workers been used to tick a box and held up in the glossy pages of corporate annual reports to show how diverse and forward-thinking an employer they are.  
 
Give them the skills, the time and the resources to build a movement that matters and is relevant to them, from the grassroots up, and they’ll flourish. The key is, it doesn’t necessarily need to be provided nor done under the banner of party politics.

Frankly speaking, we’ve seen an assembly line of politicians who walk the well-trodden path of being a young party member, then party staffer, eager party candidate and then party politician. Each to their own on whether that best represents our democracy – I suspect not.

But we take a different approach. We’re educating this new generation of trade union leaders to evoke change in the workplace and in the communities. If that path then leads them to Parliament, so be it. We can rest easy at night knowing we have representatives speaking up for our class. 

  The kids are alright. We would do well to listen to them. They’re not the workers of tomorrow; they’re the here and now.