Paul Howes is the National Secretary of The Australian Workers' Union.
Paul has more than a decade of union activism behind him – as an ordinary union
member, a union delegate, working for a peak trade union body and as an AWU
official.
He was born in Sydney, and grew up in the Blue Mountains. Paul left school at age
14 and became active in his workplace as a union delegate.
At the age of 17, he became a Research Officer with the Labor Council of NSW (now
Unions NSW). Paul worked closely with the AWU in organising workers at the
Sydney 2000 Olympics, and in 2002 as an official with the New South Wales Branch
of the union.
In 2003, he joined the AWU National Office as National Organiser and organised the
Aluminium, Mining and Steel industries for the union across the country.
In 2005, Paul was elected National Vice President, becoming the youngest person in
the history of the union to hold a national leadership position. He worked on
reforming the union's internal structure – implementing new strategies to organise
non-union workplaces and grow membership in the union's traditional industrial
bases.
Paul was elected National Secretary in 2007 and was re-elected in 2009.
The AWU now has more than 135,000 members and 250 staff across Australia.
Established in 1886, the AWU is the country's oldest and most diverse union, with
more than 45 offices across non-metropolitan Australia.
Paul was elected Vice President of the Australian Council of Trade Unions in 2008.
He is a member of the National Executive of the Australian Labor Party and
represents the Asia-Pacific Region as a member of the Executive Committee of the
International Metalworkers' Federation.
Paul is a director of the nation's largest superannuation fund, AustralianSuper. He is
also a director of the National Workforce and Productivity Development Agency, a
director of The McKell Institute and a member of a number of Government Boards.
Paul lives in Sydney with his wife Lucy and three children.
Paul can be contacted at the AWU National Office on 02 8005 3333, you can also follow Paul on Twitter by clicking here or for email click here.
All electoral matter is authorised by Paul Howes, National Secretary