Michael James Leahy

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(born 7 January 1949) was the General Secretary of the British Trade Union

Community A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given g ...

. Leahy was General Secretary of the

Iron and Steel Trades Confederation The Iron and Steel Trades Confederation (ISTC) was a British trade union for metal-workers and allied groups, being the largest union in these fields. It was formed on 1 January 1917 as a merger of existing steel-workers' unions and it is now pa ...

(ISTC) from 1999 until it merged with the

National Union of Knitwear, Footwear & Apparel Trades The National Union of Knitwear, Footwear and Apparel Trades (KFAT) was a trade union in the United Kingdom. History The National Union of Knitwear, Footwear and Apparel Trades was formed in 1991 through the amalgamation of the National Union ...

(KFAT) in 2004 to form Community. He served as General Secretary until 2013.

Early life

Leahy was born in

Pontypool Pontypool ( ) is a town and the administrative centre of the county borough of Torfaen, within the Historic counties of Wales, historic boundaries of Monmouthshire (historic), Monmouthshire in South Wales. , it has a population of 29,062. Locat ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

, in 1949. He attended Twmpath Secondary Modern School. Michael joined the ISTC in 1965 upon starting work as a Chargehand at

Panteg Steel Works The Panteg Steel Works was situated in the village of Panteg, adjacent to Sebastopol, Torfaen, Sebastopol, and Griffithstown, in the district of Torfaen, South Wales. The steel works was founded in 1873, and operated for over 130 years until its ...

, where he was employed from 1965 to 1977. He is married with two children.

Union career

Leahy was employed as an organiser from 1977 to 1986, then as a senior organiser from 1986 to 1992. He was elected Assistant General Secretary of ISTC in 1993 and General Secretary in 1999. Leahy was President of the iron, steel and nonferrous metals sector of the

International Metalworkers' Federation The International Metalworkers' Federation (IMF) was a global union federation of metalworkers' trade unions, founded in Zürich, Switzerland in August 1893. the IMF had more than 200 member organisations in 100 countries, representing a combine ...

(IMF) and sat on the executive of

European Metalworkers' Federation The European Metalworkers' Federation (EMF), founded in 1971, is a federation of 68 metalworkers' unions from 31 countries, representing a combined total of 6.5 million affiliates. It is based in Brussels, Belgium, the general secretary is Ulrich ...

(EMF-FEM). He was a member of the

Trades Union Congress The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is a national trade union center, national trade union centre, a federation of trade unions that collectively represent most unionised workers in England and Wales. There are 48 affiliated unions with a total of ...

(TUC) executive committee, and was the

President of the TUC The president of the Trades Union Congress is a prominent but largely honorary position in British trade unionism. History Initially, the post of president was elected at the annual Trades Union Congress (TUC) itself, and would serve just for the d ...

for 2011.New TUC President elected in Manchester
TUC, 19 September 2010

Middle East Peace Process

Leahy is a co-founder of the

Trade Unions Linking Israel and Palestine Trade Unions Linking Israel and Palestine (TULIP) was an organisation of unions located in various countries around the world. Its stated main goal was to promote cooperation and reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians. It supported a two- ...

References

Living people General secretaries of the Iron and Steel Trades Confederation British trade union leaders People from Pontypool 1949 births Members of the General Council of the Trades Union Congress Presidents of the General Federation of Trade Unions (UK) Presidents of the Trades Union Congress Officers of the Order of the British Empire {{UK-trade-unionist-bio-stub