The UK's biggest trade union, Unison, has elected a woman as its leader for the first time.
Christina McAnea, an official who has represented health and social care workers during the Covid-19 crisis, succeeds Dave Prentis, who is retiring after 20 years as general secretary of Unison.
Glasgow-born Ms McAnea won almost half the votes in a ballot of members, beating three other candidates.
Christina McAnea is the new general secretary of UNISON https://t.co/bgWTeXjkRD
— UNISON – UK's largest union (@unisontheunion) January 11, 2021
In her role as assistant general secretary at Unison, she has been responsible in recent years for collective bargaining, negotiations and equalities strategy, including health and safety, pensions and procurement.
Ms McAnea said: “I’m so grateful to everyone who voted for me and for the trust placed in me. I become general secretary at the most challenging time in recent history – both for our country and our public services.
“Health, care, council, police, energy, school, college and university staff have worked throughout the pandemic, and it’s their skill and dedication that will see us out the other side.
“Their union will continue to speak up for them and do all it can to protect them in the difficult months ahead.
We made history ! Thanks so much for all the support . I may be the first woman GS in UNISON but I won’t be the last . @unisontheunion
— Christina McAnea (@cmcanea) January 11, 2021
“Despite the risks, the immense pressures and their sheer exhaustion, the dedication and commitment of our key workers knows no end. I will not let this Government, nor any future one, forget that.
“Supporting public service workers through the pandemic, securing an early pay rise for NHS staff and ensuring the Government backs down on its plans for an ill-judged pay freeze will be my immediate priorities.
“Pushing for the funding and the political will to create a quality, affordable national care service, where staff are respected and paid fairly, comes close behind.”
As an experienced and respected negotiator and passionate campaigner, I can think of no better person to pass the baton on to and take our union forward https://t.co/yJCfBnwJaK
— Dave Prentis (@DavePrentis) January 11, 2021
Outgoing general secretary Mr Prentis said: “This is a historic day for our union, and I am delighted that Christina – a close friend and colleague for over 30 years – has today been elected as general secretary of our great union.
“As an experienced and respected negotiator and passionate campaigner, I can think of no better person to pass the baton to and take our union forward.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel