Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls MP will give a keynote speech to trade unionists with a response from the General Secretary of the TUC, Brendan Barber, at a key union conference this Friday.

The speech will be part of the first session of the Unions21 national annual conference, on Friday March 18 at 9am in the TUC Council Chamber, London.

"Our conference comes at a time of huge pressure on unions following the Hutton report on pensions, and in the run-up to the TUC March for the Alternative on March 26 and the coalition government's budget," said Sue Ferns, chair of Unions21, and Prospect head of research. "This event will be a crucial opportunity for discussion between trade unionists and politicians."

New thinking on how unions can modernise their image to recruit the next generation of members and activists will be presented. Speeches on the union response to the cuts and the Big Society are also scheduled. The findings of a survey on young people and unions will be revealed.

Unions21 is an organisation providing evidence, advice, new thinking and networks to unions.