Union shake-up 'has failed'

Peter Mandelson admitted yesterday that New Labour had failed in its drive to modernise the trade unions.

The former Cabinet minister, a key architect of New Labour, said Blairites had failed to spread their reforms of the party into the union movement. His comments followed the election of a new generation of independent-minded union leaders, dubbed "the awkward squad", who are more prepared to criticise Tony Blair and recommend industrial action than were their predecessors.

Writing in the modernisers' journal Progress, Mr Mandelson said: "The unions will do themselves no favours by adopting 1970s-style politics ... they need to embrace a partnership for higher wages and productivity in the new economy, to negotiate unpredictable change, to focus on job retraining and re-skilling and to help build a secure pensions system." He admitted: "New Labour has not adequately espoused this new unionism. This has been a failing."

Mr Mandelson said barely a single leader had backed efforts by John Monks, the TUC general secretary, to define a new vision for the unions.