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Christina McAnea He is the General Secretary of Unison, the UK’s largest union. Raised on the Drumchapel estate in Glasgow, McEnany left school at 16 to join the civil service, went to university at 22 and gained a degree in English and history.
A long-time union official, the no-nonsense McEnea has embraced Unison’s demands for better pay and conditions for NHS workers, including paramedics and ambulance staff, as a fight for the future of the health service.
The result of a poll of its 300,000-plus NHS members was disappointing, however, with only eight employers reaching the tough 50% minimum threshold for strike action – although this included most ambulance services across England.
Sharon Graham Unite, which was heavily involved in the leadership of his predecessor Jeremy Corbyn of the Labor Party, is run by Len McCluskey.
Graham, who left school at 16 and led her first strike a year later, has taken a very different approach, focusing on industrial battles rather than Westminster politics. She hopes to increase the union’s leverage by taking on multiple employers in the same sector at the same time.
Unite has claimed several recent victories, including the end of the long-running Liverpool Dockers dispute, which the union said led to a 14-18% pay rise for its members.
Pat Cullen General Secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, whose members are to take part in two historic strike days on December 15 and 20.
One of six children – four of whom were sisters, who also became nurses – Cullen grew up in Northern Ireland, where she worked in mental health nursing before taking up senior leadership positions.
She has been outspoken in laying the blame for the impending stoppage at the government’s door, saying earlier this week: “They refused to negotiate with us and as a result chose strike over negotiation.”
Joe Grady, The General Secretary of the University and College Union, which represents higher education staff such as librarians and lab technicians as well as lecturers. A major cause of strike action across universities.
UCU members are protesting over their pension rights, as well as low pay and the increasing casualization and uncertainty of their roles.
A lecturer in labor relations before she was elected to the five-year post, Grady is just 38 and widely seen as one of the new generation of articulate and media-savvy trade unionists in the labor movement.
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