GORDON BROWN was told yesterday that he would have to adopt more “union-friendly” policies if he were to secure their backing to succeed Tony Blair.

Tony Woodley, General Secretary of the T&G, said that the Chancellor was guilty of fostering the working climate that had produced the Gate Gourmet dispute and that there was “genuinely all to play for”. Derek Simpson, General Secretary of Amicus, said that other candidates should not be ruled out.

Relations between the unions and the Government are set to worsen after it emerged separately that ministers are considering secret plans to privatise Jobcentres in a move which PCS, the civil service union, condemned as a dismantling of the welfare state. In a further clash, Mr Blair has been told that Britain must switch to a planned economy with selected import controls, buy-British policies, and greater rights for workers.

In an interview with The Times, Mr Simpson said that free trade must be curbed to prevent job losses and the erosion of workers’ standards.

As the TUC begins today, the two sides will also clash over pensions and the right to secondary strike action, which unions now say is vital to prevent further disputes such as Gate Gourmet. Although Mr Brown is seen as the main contender to replace Mr Blair, unions are stressing that their support comes with a price of greater rights and a more union-friendly government, with tighter employment legislation.

The Chancellor will address the TUC tomorrow and has already said that he will stress the need for wage restraint. He has also advocated the need for flexible working to meet the challenges of globalisation.

The T&G is to campaign for the right to secondary strike action at the Labour Party conference, raising the issue in a contemporary motion that is likely to be supported by the other unions. The union has written to Alan Johnson, the Trade and Industry Secretary, to press the case for more employment laws, but Mr Johnson has already ruled out more laws.

Mr Johnson, a former general secretary of the Communication Workers’ Union, will come under more pressure to placate unions when he speaks to the TUC on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, PCS is attempting to get a reassurance from David Blunkett, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, that he will not proceed with a plan to contract out functions of Jobcentres with the potential transfer of nearly 100,000 jobs to the private sector.

Mark Serwotka, the General Secretary, said that such a move was “completely out of bounds” and that it was wrong to introduce the profit motive into the provision of benefits.

He said that potential problems at Jobcentres could be ten times worse than those experienced by the Child Support Agency because the private sector had a poor record on managing public services.

Fears for the future of the network were sparked following a memo from Jonathan Portes, the civil servant in charge of work and welfare strategy, to Margaret Hodge, Minister for Employment.

Mr Blunkett said that there were no “plans for the wholesale privatisation of Jobcentre Plus nor will be”.

However, he said that the private sector could have an involvement in providing some aspects of the services.

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