Just when Prime Minister Tony Blair must be thinking things can only get better, many of Britain?s trade unions are hoping to make life even more difficult for the troubled premier.

As the annual conference of the Trade Unions Congress gets under way in this south coast town this week, a band of newly elected left-wing union leaders, who feel betrayed by Blair?s ?New Labour? brand of socialism, are hoping to add to his woes.

Blair, in the worst period of his premiership, was recently summoned before a judicial inquiry into the suicide of Iraq weapons expert David Kelly and has seen his popularity crumble as doubts have grown over the case he made for the Iraq war.

The last thing he needs is the trade unions ? Labour?s traditional paymasters ? causing trouble. But the left-wingers, dubbed ?the awkward squad?, hope to use the TUC gathering to make their discontent clear and then vote against Blair on key motions at the upcoming Labour Party conference.

The group includes Derek ?the Red? Simpson, new boss at manufacturing union Amicus, Tony Woodley, incoming chief of the Transport and General Workers Union and Kevin Curran at the GMB.

Their grievances cover public service reform, employment rights, ?fatcat? pay and, as much as anything, the fact that the Blair government does not pay them much attention. Although the number of industrial disputes remains low by historical standards, high profile strikes by firefighters earlier this year and at British Airways last month, and possible action by postal workers in coming weeks, have added to the feeling that militancy is on the rise again.

Real tension

?It looks more serious than in the past. There is now real tension between some of the unions and the government,? said Professor David Metcalf, industrial relations expert at the London School of Economics.

?But I do not think that means there is tension between the TUC itself and the government. I think (new TUC general secretary) Brendan Barber won?t allow himself to be hijacked by the awkward squad,? he added.

Barber told Reuters last week that he was a moderate like his predecessor, John Monks, and said the government had already done plenty for the unions in bringing in a minumum wage and extending consultation rights for workers with their bosses.

Barber also said he was keen to improve dialogue with the government and work from the inside. But he compared trying to turn round the relationship to trying to turn a supertanker. His strategy may be working. Last week Blair agreed to monthly summits with unions to discuss public service reform.

Unlike the ?beer and sandwiches? meetings of the 1970s when unions virtually ran government policy, the summits at Blair?s Downing Street office are likely to feature Blair making soothing noises rather than caving in to union demands.

The government knows it faced down the firefighters earlier this year and public support for the strike was thin.

?The government gave the unions quite a lot in their first term but has less to give now. They are certainly not going to change closed shops or allow secondary action,? said Metcalf.

Blair is not going to this year?s TUC meeting. He went two years ago, on September 11, but rushed back to London without giving his speech after the planes slammed into the World Trade Centre.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown will speak on Tuesday. Brown has always had a better relationship than Blair with the unions and the left wing of the Labour Party, and is likely to defuse some of the tension while giving nothing away.

Whatever the bellicose noises from some unions, the feeling remains that they are ?an embarrassing elderly relative at the dinner table,? as former TUC boss John Monks once said.

Ashley Seager