Blair is not popular in the unions

While it would be wrong to assume that the hothouse atmosphere of a union conference holds across the whole membership, the unions' relationship to Labour was behind most of the business at this year's conferences and there was a more openly expressed dissatisfaction with union backing of New Labour from a broader range of members than so far witnessed.

An interesting marker of the recognition at all levels of the movement of deep-seated anti-New Labourism came in one remark at the Scottish TUC: "Politicians should have their antennae up. There are already problems in traditional Labour areas, a view of too much pandering to the Home Counties." An unremarkable comment in itself - except that it came from a semi-Blairite full-timer from the right-wing AEEU, Danny Carrigan.

Similarly, that conservative teachers' union the NASUWT threatened militant action against the Government is a significant indicator of the way the wind is blowing.

The challenge now is to turn this passive anti-New Labour mood into something positive, and to stop it resulting in trade unionists simply abandoning the unions' potential influence in the Party structures to the Blairites, or turning away from politics altogether.

For their part, the trade union leaders are making the turn from "give Labour time" as their argument to stifle action to "we've got to keep the Tories out and win Labour a second term".

On the industrial issues, the left can sometimes, or even often in some unions, win policy - although most conferences were reluctant to commit their unions to a full programme of thoroughgoing action - but cannot get it carried out. We must turn our attention to organising the widest possible layers within the unions on the core issues affecting members, such as pay and privatisation: this way we can build up the weight in the union to force action to happen, or at least to organise a degree of action independently.

As for ideas, the main thing to combat remains, of course, Social Partnership.

The CWU saw the most spectacular criticism of Labour, the conference voting down by a massive margin their Executive's plan to increase funding to the Party - and voting to withdraw "financial and moral support" from Labour if the Post Office is privatised, even partially.

Anger from postal workers over the union-backed "Way Forward" pay and conditions deal saw postal General Secretary John Keggie narrowly escape being no confidenced and half the old postal Executive members cleared out.

The leadership of the biggest union, UNISON, no doubt sensing a rough ride, tacked left, criticising the Government on core welfare state issues: where previously, for example, they had critically supported "Best Value" (local government privatisation schemes), now they outright oppose it (although propose little action on this). In so doing they were largely able to undermine any serious opposition: a militant policy on "Best Value" was voted down, for example.

The small RMT AGM (fewer than 70 delegates) saw the left pledging to set up a Campaign for an Independent Political Fund after narrowly losing the vote for a review of the union's relationship to Labour, with the aim of freeing up the political fund to back only candidates who support union policy. The union presently sponsors John Prescott, the man privatising the Tube.

Rail safety was a big issue, the AGM committing the union to calling a strike if the Advanced Train Protection system is not introduced.

The non-Labour affiliated NUT's conference saw General Secretary Doug McAvoy publicly denouncing the democratically-decided policy of his own union, saying he would refuse to advocate that members vote for a one day strike against Performance Related Pay, despite this being overwhelmingly passed at conference. The vote has been ignored.

A sizeable proportion of the conference walked out when Education Minister Estelle Morris took to the stage, the first such walkout at any union conference since Labour took office in 1997.

The conference of the PCS (also not affiliated to Labour) saw much greater anger at the Government than two years ago, focused on two main issues: there was a near unanimous vote for a fight for national pay across all civil service departments, and, as with all the public sector unions, privatisation was a very big issue.

MSF conference was mainly concerned with the proposed merger with the AEEU, delegates succeeding in getting some democratic guarantees written into the Instrument of Amalgamation, to be discussed again at a recall conference in November. The MSF and AEEU leaderships' aim is to build a right-wing, Blairite block in the TUC, and to capitalise on the provisions of the Employment Rights Act by signing single-union sweetheart deals with employers keen to drive out more militant unions.

The TGWU and GMB, which have biennial conferences, did not meet this year.

Certain facts must be faced. Industrial action remains at an all-time low, and the left is not growing. The union leaders have shown no real resistance to Blair in this year's Labour Policy Forum or in the run-up to annual conference, and have pledged £15m to Labour to fight the next election election with little active opposition from members.

But amongst union members, there is increasing passive disquiet about the handing over of huge sums of money to a party that at best ignores them and at worst attacks them. The left must take a more serious attitude to broad working class politics than hitherto - an opportunity for UNISON members to voice their anger at the union leadership's capitulation to the Blairites was lost this year when the Socialist Party divided the left on a motion to democratise UNISON's political funds - and turn the prevailing "mood" into something active and positive, and make a serious turn to seizing the initiative on the core industrial issues facing members on which they feel let down by the official structures.

The run-up to the General Election, and events such as the forthcoming General Secretary elections in the TGWU and PCS, and the launch of a new left formation in UNISON, will be interesting tests of whether the left in the unions can measure up to this job.