Prospect general secretary Mike Clancy said that the decline in collective bargaining coverage in the private sector in recent decades meant that unions needed to “win the argument for collective bargaining all over again”.

He said that many people who most need the benefits of collective bargaining are precisely the people least likely to be covered by it.

Clancy warned delegates not to underestimate the ferocity of the opposition to renewing collective bargaining. He said unions needed a multi-faceted approach to dealing with employers, including explaining how they could benefit from collective arrangements.

A new duty to bargain for workplaces with more than 250 staff would move beyond the ‘feudal’ concept of union recognition and lead to a significant increase in collective bargaining coverage in the private sector, he concluded.

Clancy’s speech on collective bargaining was an amendment to motion 17. You can download key documents and watch Congress live via this link.