I don't say, "Because you're from that background, I can't work with you".' This was always his strength as deputy prime minister - he was a brilliant negotiator who managed to keep the Old Labour unionists on board while Blair and Brown were pushing through their New Labour reforms.
"As an out, proud, visible black lesbian woman, a trade unionist, a Stonewall board trustee, an activist and campaigner for equality and social justice, it is so important to me that I get involved in all levels of community and society, turning up the volume to amplify my voice.
The decision has been repeatedly postponed, partly because of pressure from trade unionists on the board of the partly state-owned French group who claim EDF cannot afford the cost and risk of such a massive project in the UK.
Mrs Palmer said she was one of only two unionist councillors on the 10-person board.
Roger Lyons, the general secretary of the Manufacturing, Science and Finance union, said nine of BMW's 20 supervisory board members were trade unionists.
No wonder the board of Gold Fields (and trade-unionists, fearing job losses) snorted at the notional $8 billion of Harmony's all-share offer.
The Unionists' political leadership has not yet taken on board that it is just one player on the board.
Even the trade unionists at national daily Libération, where Zinsou was on the board, hailed his sense of dialogue.
But outmaneuvered by Thabo Mbeki in the '90s, the former unionist chose business over politics, became a rand billionaire and joined the Lonmin board as part of South Africa's black economic empowerment program.
He said the UUP's move yesterday to withdraw from the North's Policing Board if further reforms were introduced by Tony Blair was an attempt by unionists to dump the Patten report.
