Obviously the Blair Government is enjoying a honeymoon and conferences have been careful to avoid statements or motions which could be deemed too critical of the new Government and yet they have all consistently passed policies beyond Blair's agenda.
Nearly all the unions have called for a minimum wage of £4.42 per hour and have restated their commitment to full employment. Nearly every conference has passed motions calling for pensions to be linked to rises in wages.
The conferences have called for no more privatisation. Numerous motions have been passed demanding the bringing back into public ownership of the privatised utilities. There has been widespread support for ASLEF's conference call for a "fully integrated publicly owned and publicly accountable railway system".
The public sector unions have all called for a swift end to CCT and are suspicious about Labour's plans to introduce a "best value" scheme to replace it. Opposition to Private Finance Initiatives has been combined with disquiet over Labour continuing with tight restrictions on public sector spending.
All the conferences have been united in calling for increased trade union rights. While there have been calls for the repeal of all Tory anti-union laws the unions are concentrating efforts on getting the early implementation of the promises over union recognition and 'check off'. Conference after conference has expressed opposition to the existing convergence criteria for the European single currency. The GMB, TGWU and UNISON have all called for entry into EMU to be at least delayed. The unions want to see jobs and good public services at the heart of Europe and not the present priority of reducing public sector borrowing.
The unions have been discussing the Labour into Power (LiP) proposals. The Communication Workers Union (CWU) has opposed the proposals. UNISON's Affiliated Political Fund decided not to oppose them - a serious setback. Most other unions fall between these two positions. Many express reservations over LiP but avoid outright opposition. Decisions will be left until the final proposals are announced. The MSF conference reflected this confusion by supporting both the existing structures and welcoming the LiP consultation paper!
Despite the lack of clarity there is enough support for the sovereignty of Party Conference and enough reservations for the unions to have a mandate to oppose the final proposals. Even UNISON's disappointing decision includes the desire for "Annual Conference to remain the sovereign policy and decision making body". The battle for the union votes is far from over.
The problem remains union leaderships' unwillingness to defy Tony Blair openly. The 'modernisers' success so far has relied on the acquiescence of the unions. UNISON, GMB, TGWU, RMT, MSF, CWU, TSSA, GPMU and USDAW all have places on Labour's NEC - yet Dennis Skinner failed to get a seconder when he proposed a manifesto pledge of a minimum wage of at least £4 per hour.
If the unions used their power in the Party they could have a dramatic impact. The policies passed by recent conferences could lay the basis for campaigns for the basic policies we need. Nobody expects loud condemnations of Tony Blair but if unions started to campaign effectively for their existing policies they might just find they have more friends throughout the labour movement than they sometimes suspect.