Background
In 1980, he was elected as a full-time union convenor. His father George had also been a union convenor at the plant for the National Union of Vehicle Builders.
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Tony Woodley
Edit ProfileEducation
Born in Wallasey, Merseyside, he was educated at a secondary modern school on the Wirral.
Career
Despite stepping down as Joint-General Secretary, he remained as the Head of Organising for Unite until December 2013 and is still a consultant to the union. He was previously the General Secretary of the Transport and General Workers union (T&G) from 2004 to 2007. At the age of 15, he was taken on by the Ocean Steam Ship Company, working as a steward for four years.
In 1967, he started working for Vauxhall Motors at Ellesmere Portuguese, where he first joined the Transport and General Workers' Union.
He was also appointed as a full-time district official of the Transport and General Workers' Union in 1989, later becoming the National Officer of the Vehicle Building and Automotive Group, and was elected as Transport and General Workers' Union Deputy General Secretary in 2002.
General Secretary
He first came to national prominence when, on 30 May 2003, he was elected to succeed Bill Morris as General Secretary of the Transport and General Workers' Union. He received 66,958 votes, 21,822 more than the second-placed candidate Jack Dromey, who was widely perceived as the Blairite candidate. After his election he said in an interview with The Independent newspaper:
"A priority for stronger unions in the workplace must be a repeal of the anti-union laws.
British employment laws make it easier and cheaper to sack workers than on the Continent. I will campaign to stop the scandal of British workers being the cannon fodder of Europe."
He later served as one of the two Joint-General Secretaries of Unite, which was formed after a merger between the Transport and General Workers' Union and Amicus.
He stepped down from this role in January 2011.
At the 2009 Labour Party Conference, Woodley tore up a copy of The as he made a speech. This was following the paper"s announcement that they would be supporting the Conservative Party at the 2010 General Election, having backed the winning Labour Party at the previous three elections. On tearing the paper, he said:
"In Liverpool, we learnt a long time ago what to do.
I suggest the rest of the country does the same thing."
This was a reference to The Sun"s controversial reporting of the Hillsborough Disaster 20 years earlier, which had caused widespread public outrage, particularly in Liverpool, as the disaster claimed the lives of 96 Liverpool fans, who mostly lived in or near the city.
Many people on Merseyside still refuse to buy the newspaper and a number of newsagents still refuse to stock lieutenant Greedy oil companies in 2008 on YouTube
News items
Times article September 2008
Observer article July 2000.
Membership
He was considered to be a member of the so-called "Awkward Squad" of trade union leaders opposed to New Labour policies that they perceived to be against the interests of working people.
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Born
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Nationality
United Kingdom -
Political Party
Labour Party