The IEU has welcomed the appointment of Emma Kingdon as the next President of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), with General Secretary David Brear describing her experience and skills as ideal for the role.
“Emma brings diverse experience in the union movement to her new role as President of the ACTU. She is knowledgeable, practical and good with people, and has in the past helped us with some really great advice around strategy and communications,” David said.
David is looking forward to working with Kingdon, 38, as a new generation of leaders takes the union movement forward. She will be the youngest president in the ACTU’s 100-year history.
She will take up the position on 1 December, succeeding Michele O’Neil, who has led the movement for eight and a half years. She will work alongside newly elected ACTU Secretary Melissa Donnelly, who recently replaced Sally McManus.
Kingdon grew up in a working-class family in Rockingham, a suburb of Perth. Her father worked as a truck driver and meter reader and was a union delegate in the Pilbara, while her mother worked in local childcare centres before pursuing a career in TAFE.
She joined the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association while working at her local KFC, then became an organiser with the United Workers Union. There, she organised mainly women workers in lower-paid sectors, including early childhood education and aged care, helping them secure better pay and recognition while defending their workplace rights.
At the Finance Sector Union, Kingdon campaigned for fairer treatment of workers facing redundancies at NAB, helping save jobs and livelihoods. She also led a successful campaign against Westpac’s plans to move regional call centre jobs offshore.
During her 10 years at the ACTU, Kingdon served as National Campaigns Director and joined its leadership team. The ACTU credited her with helping drive a recent surge in union membership growth, particularly among younger workers.
For the past nine months, she has been Executive Officer of the CFMEU Administration, which is tasked with rebuilding the union as a clean, stable and effective organisation that protects members’ interests and workplace safety.
Emma’s priorities
Kingdon said her background continued to shape her priorities.
“I come from a working-class family and I get how hard it is to make ends meet, and that is what drives me every day to see workers get ahead.
“What I’ve learnt is the power to change things comes from us – working people sticking together. When we put aside our differences and support each other, we win great things like Medicare, wage rises and our rights at work.
“Too many workers are having to look at their budgets and wonder what else they can cut because the system feels rigged when your pay can’t keep up with the cost of living. Across the country unions are building strength and winning on the things that matter.”
Kingdon plans to pursue stronger wage growth and opportunities for workers to reclaim time.
“Whether that’s through working from home, a four-day week or through additional annual leave, that’s obviously been a priority of working people,” she said.
O’Neil described Kingdon as “a highly effective and formidable union campaigner”, adding that her understanding of workers’ concerns, commitment to fairness and strategic approach would benefit the movement.
Donnelly praised Kingdon’s record of taking on difficult challenges and challenging workplace laws.
“[Kingdon] dealt with some of the toughest corporate bosses in the major banks and has never left a negotiating table or a picket line without getting the best possible outcomes for her members,” she said.
Former ACTU Secretary Sally McManus, who worked alongside Kingdon for 12 years, called her “one of the best campaigners and organisers I have ever met”.
