GMB Scotland delegates hailed after Congress in Blackpool
From distilleries, schools, and hospitals to security, energy, and shipbuilding, the voice of workers from across Scotland was raised at GMB Congress 2026.
A series of powerful speeches by delegates from north of the border led debates in Blackpool at the union’s policy-making conference. After a year of achievement delegates in the resort’s Winter Gardens looked forward to the campaigns ahead.
From Sunday, when Congress opened, GMB Scotland was front and centre with delegates, speaking with insight and from experience, calling for new policies to make work better.
The concerns of members in energy were raised repeatedly by GMB Scotland with delegates urging the UK Government to slow the rushed transition to renewables that risks our country’s energy security and thousands of skilled jobs in oil and gas.
Gas workers also called on ministers to seriously and urgently engage with the potential to repurpose the network to deliver hydrogen to heat homes.
Other motions raised by Scots including calls for better transport links in the Highlands and islands to protect jobs, including workers in the whisky industry; better pay and conditions in the security industry; the need to be vigilant to protect trans workers from discrimination; and improving training and safeguards for Pupil Support Assistants.
The opinions and concerns of Scottish workers were highlighted throughout the five-day congress but so too was their solidarity with GMB colleagues and union comrades across the UK and around the world with powerful speeches in support of the people of Ukraine, for example.
After Congress closed on Thursday, Tom Carr-Pollock, leader of the GMB Scotland delegation, hailed its contribution to debates.
He said: “It has been a week of fierce debates and important decisions and many were led and shaped by the expertise and input of GMB Scotland delegates.
"They spoke powerfully and eloquently, with experience and insight, and were heard loudly and clearly in Blackpool.
“All our members in Scotland can be assured their voice has been raised to shape the policies and priorities of our trade union.”
General Secretary Gary Smith, a former GMB Scotland secretary, closed congress after hailing delegates for their work and commitment before promising the best is yet to come.
Smith hailed delegates for raising the voice of members working in the private, public and third sectors across the length and breadth of the UK.
He said: “I absolutely feel energized by everything I've heard this week, your stories, your campaigns, the fantastic leadership that you are displaying every day in workplaces
“You've pulled together, you've campaigned together, and we have won together to make work better. It's truly, truly inspiring.”
Smith said the speculation around leadership of the Labour Party will not divert attention from the union’s priorities, including workers’ rights, industrial strategy, and equal pay.
He said: “There's going to be a lot of noise about politics.
“Let me be clear, politics is not, and never again will be, an obsession for this union. Politics is a means to an end for us, and nothing else."
He addressed the rise of Reform and warned its politics of division and hate are exploiting years of austerity deindustrialisation that has hollowed out communities and left people looking for scapegoats.
Smith said: “People are hurting. People are worried and there is a fear of the future.
“Our job is to bring enlightenment where there is ignorance, unity where there is division and hope where there is despair.
“This is a serious union and we will to rise to this moment and make it our moment. Congress, we're ready.
“Thank you.”
