Paddy Lillis from Usdaw, which represents shop workers, said comments such as those by Sharon Graham, the general secretary of Unite, were unfair and risked undermining Labour’s electoral chances. Starmer has been at odds with several union leaders after discouraging shadow ministers from joining the picket lines, which several MPs have done. Starmer’s aides argue that while the party supports fair treatment and pay for workers, as a would-be governing party it cannot take sides on specific disputes. But speaking on BBC Radio 4 on Saturday, Graham criticized that approach: “I think if they now came out strongly and said, ‘Wait a minute, these abominable profits that are happening and what’s happening to the cost of living, that’s what we think we should happen’, then I think they will be elected a lot. “From my point of view, I think we’re actually doing Labor a favor by saying, ‘Look, get a leg up, support the workers’.” While Unite remains Labour’s biggest financial backer, it has been a regular critic of Starmer. Last month, Graham warned about future funding for Labour, saying the party risked becoming “irrelevant to working people”. But in an interview on Sunday, also on Radio 4, Lille criticized Graham’s approach. “I think it’s really unfair,” he said. “I think Keir Starmer has proven time and time again that he is on the side of workers. He understands the industrial actions that take place at the minute. “We have to be, as a trade union movement and as a labor movement, putting the blame right where it belongs. And that’s what’s happening with this Tory government, they’ve been missing in action.” Lillis added: “I think there needs to be a degree of silence sometimes and let the Labor leadership continue the battle with the Tories and hold them to account for what is wrong with this country at the moment.” Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Tensions between Starmer’s office and strike-backing unions are likely to worsen in the coming months, given the number of expected strikes looming as workers seek pay rises close to the fast-rising rate of inflation. Motions tabled by Unite and another major union, Unison, ahead of the TUC conference next month have called for concerted industrial action to help win better pay awards.
