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New ACTU President elected

Michele O'Neil has been elected the President of Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU). 

"My history tells you that I will bring to the ACTU a thirst for justice. A belief in the power of solidarity, in the importance of building connections, alliances and finding new allies in working class ethnic communities, in our neighbourhoods and country towns and in our global movement. Workers, our members, our families, our communities want change and are ready to fight for it," O'Neil said in her opening address as President. 

O’Neil has been an activist and a fighter all of her adult life. A lifelong commitment to social justice, equality and a fair go were nurtured in early family life.

Her first political engagement came at the age of 10 when she visited the Aboriginal Tent embassy in Canberra.

She has worked as a youth worker dealing with youth homelessness, as wait staff in hospitality where she experienced firsthand sexual harassment and as a machinist on the factory floor.

She has seen firsthand the impact of sexual harassment, of family and domestic violence, of marginalization, of unsafe workplaces, and of poor wages and conditions.

O’Neil has had a long term commitment to and been a vocal advocate for refugees, asylum seekers and for women.

And along the way she has been a union official for the Textile Clothing & Footwear Union of Australia for 28 years working for some of Australia’s most marginalized and exploited workers.

Most recently, she led the amalgamation of the TCFUA into the CFMEU and became a CFMEU National Vice President.

To read Michele O'Neil's full President's Address click here

17 July 2018

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