Paul Nowak (born May 1972) is a British trade unionist. He has been the

general secretary of the Trades Union Congress The General Secretary of the TUC is the chief permanent officer of the Trades Union Congress, and a major figurehead in the trade union movement in the United Kingdom. The Secretary is responsible for the effective operation of the TUC and for lead ...

(TUC) since 29 December 2022. He was previously the

deputy general secretary of the TUC The General Secretary of the TUC is the chief permanent officer of the Trades Union Congress, and a major figurehead in the trade union movement in the United Kingdom. The Secretary is responsible for the effective operation of the TUC and for lead ...

Biography

Born in

Bebington Bebington () is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, in Merseyside, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Cheshire, it is south of Liverpool, close to the River Mersey on the eastern side of the Wirral Peninsula ...

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial and metropolitan county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Greater Manchester to the east, Cheshire to the south, the Wales, Welsh county of Flintshire across ...

, Nowak first joined a trade union at age 17 when he had a part-time job at

Asda Asda Stores Limited (), trading as Asda and often styled as ASDA, is a British supermarket and petrol station chain. Its headquarters is in Leeds, England. The company was incorporated as Associated Dairies and Farm Stores in 1949. It expanded ...

. He subsequently became an activist in the Communication Workers Union. He became Vice President of the Wirral Trades Union Council at the age of 19 – the youngest person to hold the post. He began working for the TUC in 2000. In 2013 he was named TUC Assistant General Secretary, and in 2016 Deputy General Secretary. He is credited with ensuring that the

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy The Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) was a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom, United Kingdom Government, from July 2016 to Februar ...

(BEIS) guidance for safe working during the pandemic was significantly stronger than that first proposed by ministers. He supported the then TUC General Secretary

Frances O'Grady Frances Lorraine Maria O'Grady, Baroness O'Grady of Upper Holloway (born 9 November 1959), is a British former trade unionist leader, who served as the General Secretary of the British Trades Union Congress (TUC) from 2013 to 2022, being the fir ...

in securing the Job Retention Scheme. In July 2022 the TUC announced that Nowak would be its next General Secretary, taking office from January 2023. Nowak is a lifelong supporter of

Everton Football Club Everton Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founded in 1878, the club was a foun ...

. He and his wife, Vicky, have three children.

References

, - 1972 births Living people British trade union leaders People from Bebington English people of Polish descent English people of Chinese descent General secretaries of the Trades Union Congress {{UK-trade-unionist-bio-stub