A candidate to be the next general secretary of Unite has said members in Scotland will decide the trade union’s position on independence.
Left winger Sharon Graham said she backs “self-determination” and supports Holyrood having the power to scrap Tory anti-trade union laws.
She also blasted the “toxic” and “vile” abuse she has faced in the contest and claimed she is scaring the union establishment:
“I’d say the boys are a bit worried.”
A three-way contest between Graham, fellow left-winger Steve Turner and moderate Gerard Coyne is underway to replace Len McCluskey as the union chief.
The role is also hugely important in the political world as Unite is Labour’s biggest donor.
Graham, 51, leads the union’s organising department, and has secured support from branches across the UK, including in Glasgow and Edinburgh.
In an interview with the Record, the former waitress promised to empower Unite members north of the border:
“We need now to devolve the responsibility, accountability, and the decision-making of the political decisions around Scotland into Scotland.”
In practice, she said this means Unite members would decide whether or not to fund Scottish Labour under leader Anas Sarwar.
“I don’t know what will come out of that debate, but it will [be a] debate that will be had in Scotland.”
She also said members will “absolutely” determine the union’s position in any independence referendum:
“As far as indyref2 is concerned, I have long believed in self determination. It’s up to the Scottish people to decide what they want to do. Whatever that outcome will be will be their decision, not anybody else’s decision. And that goes for how I intend to run the union.”
Graham, born and raised in Hammersmith in London, supports calls for employment law to be devolved to Holyrood, a move that would give MSPs the ability to set a higher minimum wage.
“I see this in a very positive way”, she said, adding that Scotland could set the “pace” on trade union rights.
Graham also made clear industrial strategy, not politics or Labour, would be her top priority.
“The parliamentary Labour Party has never won a pay rise for workers, they’ve never won a strike for workers.
“I think for too long it has been the political tail wagging the industrial dog, and I really want that to go back the other way.”
Graham’s critics want her to stand down as they fear her presence in the race could let Coyne win.
She hit back by saying “horrible, vile” comments had been made about her: “A definite line has been crossed. The abuse that I’ve taken has been unprecedented in a union election - online, social media, mock ups of me as Margaret Thatcher.
“My 12 year old son said to me, ‘why are they attacking you, mum, when all you want to do is help workers’?
“It made me more determined.”
Graham said the abuse stems from the union “establishment” being “shocked” at the support she has received.
She said it was a “tad odd” for figures in Unite to talk about equalities, but then have a conversation about a woman standing down for “two men”.
She also warned that the labour movement is on “life support” and claimed Unite’s structures are “100 years” old.
“I’m not in for tinkering round the edges,” she said.
