Frances O’Grady will stand down as general secretary of the Trades Union Congress at the end of the year.
The first woman to hold the post in the TUC’s 154-year-old history, she said it had been the greatest honour of her life and a privilege to serve the trade union movement during a turbulent decade for workers in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis.
O’Grady has been general secretary of the TUC, the UK union movement’s umbrella group, since January 2013. Early in the Covid pandemic she played a key role alongside Carolyn Fairbairn, then head of the CBI, the business lobby group, in drawing up the furlough scheme with the chancellor, Rishi Sunak.
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O’Grady said: “Unions are a force for good in British society. I am proud of what we achieved during the pandemic – from securing furlough to keeping people safe at work, championing equality and keeping vital services running. And I’m proud of the work we do every day protecting workers’ jobs, pay, rights and working conditions.”
She said she was happy to be stepping down at a time when unions were growing their membership, as the movement fought to improve working standards amid pressure on living costs.
“The last decade has been turbulent, with three general elections, two anti-trade union bills, an EU referendum and a pandemic to contend with,” she said. “But on every occasion unions have risen to the challenge and fought for working people.”
