Partners in time: TUC boss John Monks

The leader of the TUC has called on the government and public sector unions not to sour relations over the issue of public sector reform.

Speaking at Unison's conference in Brighton on Wednesday, general secretary John Monks said that a partnership pact between unions and the government was the only way forward. He said that both sides accepted the need for change - the stumbling block was over how to achieve it."We have a chance for change. The debate is not over whether services need to be improved - that is the popular will - but how to do it," Monks said.

The TUC boss followed Stephen Byers' speech to the conference on Tuesday which was given a rough ride by members of the union. Monks warned that though the government's decision to put public services at the centre of its programme, there could be no room for an attack on the workers who deliver services.

"We need to be partners for progress. The commitment to putting public services at the heart of the government's programme is welcome. The extra resources pledged for the next three years through the spending programme demonstrate that this commitment is real and not just rhetorical. But please let not this government take up the Orwellian strains of the Tory anthem that private is good and public is bad," Monks said.

He appealed to union members not to antagonise ministers by engaging in a direct confrontation with the government over reform.

"For our part, don't fall into the opposite rhetoric. If we do, we cannot fail to lose support and hinder the achievement of those objectives which we have set ourselves centred on excellence in public services and decent terms and conditions for all public servants," he said.

He called for a partnership between workers and the government as well as reassurances from ministers that pay and conditions would not be cut.

"The Pact will call for a joint strategy to restore the public sector ethos and to ensure that the public sector can recruit and retain a high quality workforce. The private sector cannot be allowed to take public work and public servants by getting away with lower standards," he said.

Monks called for a mature approach from both sides. "We aim to outgrow the 'them and us' in all public services and replace that concept with just 'us'. It's an ambitious programme - but let this union, the largest in the land, lend its support, its wisdom, its strength and its maturity to the task, " he said.