Unite union boss plans to miss Labour conference again

Sharon Graham says she is needed amid crescendo' of pay negotiations, but calls for Labour to show it sides with workers

Sharon Graham, the boss of Unite, is planning to skip Labour's conference for a second year in a row to prioritise current industrial disputes, and said the party should correct the impression that it's wrong" to be on the picket line.

Graham, the general secretary for just over a year, has presided over 450 disputes over the last 12 months and counted the outcome on pay as a win in 80% of cases. She said strikes are coming to a crescendo at the moment" because of the cost of living crisis, when every penny in people's pay packets counts.