Unite, the second biggest union in the country – with over 1.2 million members – recently concluded elections to its central executive council. The results saw a landslide win for the ‘back to the workplace’ slate, backed by general secretary Sharon Graham.
Her faction won 41 seats as against 18 for the ‘members united’ slate. ‘Back to the workplace’ tellingly calls the latter faction – formerly named ‘united left’ – the “old guard” of the union.
This swing can only be interpreted as a vote of confidence in Sharon Graham – in spite of all her faults (from her half-baked opposition to Starmer’s hated Labour government, to her support for Starmer’s militarism).
In turn, this ‘vote of confidence’ comes down to what Graham represents compared to the “old guard”: a programme of industrial militancy.
Indeed, she won an unexpected victory in 2021 by promising to remove barriers to taking strike action.
And she has delivered on this promise. As of late 2024, Unite had launched 1,500 disputes since she became leader – involving over a quarter of the membership, 85 percent of which resulted in concessions won. Clearly there is a fighting mood among members.
Conversely, the ‘united left’ slate is out of touch. One of their central attacks during the executive elections was that Graham had “depleted the strike fund” (read: she launched disputes!) This is a bit rich coming from that slate, when their former general secretary Len McCluskey is currently embroiled in corruption scandals.
For those Unite members who voted, it undoubtedly looked like the “old guard” was holding back further industrial militancy. ‘Back to the workplace’ obviously wants to capitalise on this sentiment, declaring in its victory statement that:
“The decisive verdict of the voting membership was to continue the change delivered by our general secretary, Sharon Graham. We will now begin the work to ensure that the manifesto our general secretary was elected on is delivered in full.”
Back to the Workplace statement on resounding victory at Unite EC Elections. 🔥🔥🔥
Back to the Workplace: 41 seats
United Left & Unite Alliance (Newly known as Members United): 18 seats
Independents: 2 seats#BackToTheWorkplace #UniteEC pic.twitter.com/bcemBAwdrp
— Workers Unite (Official) (@WorkersUnite__) April 28, 2026
Bureaucracy
Of course, a big factor in these union elections is the very low rate of participation. Only 5.9 percent of union members voted; while by a huge margin the highest turnout of any sector was among retired members – on 29.2 percent! This means that by and large, the real victor of these elections was “don’t know, don’t care”.
This abstentionism is a big indictment on the union bureaucracy. Graham and her faction are part of this bureaucracy, despite their talk about standing for rank-and-file workers, and wanting to clear out the old bureaucracy.
Graham and her allies might be more up for an industrial fight than the old guard, but their fundamental philosophy is the same. At every turn they are looking for deals, compromises, and accommodations with the bosses and the government.
For ordinary Unite members, whose wages and conditions are being squeezed every year, this is not an inspiring election manifesto. There’s a rage against the entire system and a desire to burn the whole thing down, not compromise with it. Neither wing of the bureaucracy has come even close to tapping into that – hence the abstentionism.
Meanwhile, talk of bureaucracy from Graham’s camp should be taken with a pinch of salt. Graham’s salary remains undisclosed. The previous general secretary took home £100,000 a year. Yet her faction does not call for officials to take the average workers’ wage, or for annual elections, or the right to recall the leadership, or electability of all union staff – all essential demands in a genuine fight against bureaucracy.
This is further compounded by the mudslingling contest that both factions are engaged in against each other – with mutual and venomous accusations of bureaucratism, corruption, and nepotism.
We can’t do deals with the devil. It’s time to take the fight to Farage.
Watch, listen and share: pic.twitter.com/I0wU7SJVZB
— Reunite The Union (@Re_Unite_Union) May 14, 2026
To the ordinary member who looks to their union to fight – against job cuts, downwards pressure on wages, and austerity – these power struggles at the top must feel incredibly removed from their ordinary lives.
In this vein, several reports to The Communist from Unite picket lines have highlighted the distrust with which members in struggle regard Sharon Graham – as someone who is happy to turn up for a photo opportunity and a speech, but does not offer the methods and programme to win.
Appetite for action
Nonetheless – insofar as only a tiny fraction of the union membership was inspired enough to vote – this fraction swung decisively in favour of ‘back to the workplace’.
The election results therefore provide a small indication of the mood within workplaces.
In the coming months and years, under the impact of the war in Iran and other convulsions of the crisis-ridden capitalist system, pressure from ordinary workers on the trade union leaders is only going to increase. They will be pushed into struggle, or else thrust aside, harder and faster than anything we have seen for decades.
In effect, by voting for Graham’s platform, workers are saying – with scepticism – “we support the industrial militancy that has taken place since Graham was elected; we want it to go the whole way”. The Revolutionary Communists fully stand by this sentiment.
Now is the time for Unite to turn its back on faction fights at the top – and mobilise the full weight of its 1.2 million members, for an industrial upsurge against austerity and war!
