Unions need to work with the Labour Party, TUC general secretary John Monks has told a rally in what is considered the birthplace of the British workers' movement.

Mr Monks told the annual Tolpuddle Martyrs Rally in Dorset on Sunday that unions did not want to work against the Labour Government

But unions had a number of concerns including pensions, low pay and employment rights.

The six Tolpuddle martyrs were exiled to Australia in 1834 after campaigning for better pay and working conditions, and the episode is seen as the birth of the modern trade union movement.

We will only sort out these problems with the government and not in some way against them

John Monks, TUC

Mr Monks said: "There is deep concern among trade unions about employment rights.

"We are concerned that we are being treated as second-class citizens compared to the rest of Europe."

He told the BBC: "I think most people recognise we will only sort out these problems with the government and not in some way against them."

This year's festival has been held against a backdrop of deteriorating relations between the government and trade unions.

A series of strikes, including a 24 hour strike on the London Underground, has crippled services in recent days.

Farm labourers

Council workers also took to the picket line for the first time for more than 20 years, and they have voted to strike again over pay on 14 August.

The martyrs festival, which has been celebrated since the 1920s, also coincided this year with a TUC conference in London on Saturday.

Union leaders and left-wing Labour MPs protested against the privatisation of public services at the event, called 'After New Labour'.

The Tolpuddle martyrs were farm labourers who were paid nine shillings a week and lived in poverty.

Their leader, George Loveless, set up a union to represent them.

Public outcry

But landowners, led by James Frampton and supported by the government, were determined to quash dissent.

The decision to exile them triggered a massive public outcry.

A procession of 35 unions marched to Whitehall to present a 200,000 signature petition to the then prime minister, Lord Melbourne.

The six later returned to the UK and the modern trade union movement was born.

This year's martyrs festival was also addressed by Education Secretary Estelle Morris.