On Monday I went to the STUC congress in Dundee to check on Scotland’s trade union movement. On the Caird Hall stage were three banners, each with a single word. Educate. Agitate. Organise. The principles of organised labour remain unchanged from 1883, when this slogan was coined by an early socialist party called the Social Democratic Federation.
The STUC congress feels different from a political party conference. Delegates are not seated in rows like a theatre audience. Instead they sit at small tables with colleagues from their particular union. The atmosphere is businesslike. This is not a rally. The workers have work to do.
The mood in Dundee was expectant. The reason was spelt out in a speech to congress by Anas Sarwar, the Scottish
