Donegal native is new ICTU General Secretary

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions Executive (ICTU) committee has ratified Donegal native, Owen Reidy,  as the new General Secretary of the Congress following Patricia King, after she stepped down from the post this month.

Owen is a father of two has 24 years full time experience in the Irish trade union movement. He was the outgoing Assistant General Secretary of the Congress. Owen is from Greencastle but lived in Raphoe and Dunfanaghy for a while too as a young lad.

He started his career as a union official in SIPTU in the west of Ireland and occupied a range of roles in the union representing and organising workers in the aviation, insurance and finance, non commercial semi states and cleaning and security sectors.

He was appointed one of SIPTU’s 5 Divisional Organisers in 2013 when he managed and ran the unions Transport, Energy, Aviation and Construction Division. During this time he was involved in a number of high profiled and successful industrial disputes including the Greyhound lockout, the Luas dispute and pay disputes in the CIE transport companies.

In 2016 Reidy took up the position of Assistant General Secretary of the ICTU with primary responsibility for the Congress in Northern Ireland. He has coordinated the work and voice of the trade union movement in NI in response to Brexit, political stalemate and the current cost of living crisis.

Ibec, the group that represents Irish business, welcomes the announcement of Owen Reidy as the newly appointed General Secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions.

Speaking on the appointment Ibec CEO Danny McCoy said: “Owen brings a wealth of experience with him into the role, and we look forward to continuing to work with him and the wider ICTU team on areas of common interest for Irish business.

“In addition, I would like to extend my sincere thanks to outgoing General Secretary Patricia King for her work throughout her tenure. Her continuous openness to engage with Ibec and other stakeholders on often challenging topics is a testament to her ambition of making Ireland a better place to live and work. On behalf of Ibec, we wish her every success for the future.”

Reidy came through a competitive interview process to be selected the new General Secretary.

Reidy said of his appointment:,“I am delighted and humbled to be selected for this important leadership role in our trade union movement. I want to pay tribute to my friend, colleague and mentor Patricia King, for her work and the valuable legacy she has left us all in her work both in SIPTU and as General Secretary of our Congress.

"I think we have the potential to rebuild and grow our movement and reach out to workers currently not organised in trade unions.

"We need to make work pay for all and build a more inclusive economy and society. Our number one priority must be to transpose the recent Adequate Minimum Wages directive which has a transformative potential when it comes to collective bargaining in Ireland, and to legislate for the LEEF High Level Group report on collective bargaining in Ireland.

"I look forward to working with my colleagues in a collective leadership to strengthen collective bargaining, to grow our movement and to improve worker voice in society and the economy," Mr Reidy added.

ICTU President Kevin Callinan said ‘With Irish and European collective bargaining structures set to be overhauled, we are entering an exciting new phase for the trade union movement. As General Secretary, Owen Reidy will bring fresh energy to the task of ensuring that these changes happen in a way that produces real improvements in the pay and conditions of workers.

In his previous roles with SIPTU and as the lead Congress official for Northern Ireland, he has shown that he has the qualities to unite the movement in pursuit of such core objectives’.

Ibec, the group that represents Irish business, also welcomed the announcement.

Speaking on the appointment Ibec CEO Danny McCoy said: “Owen brings a wealth of experience with him into the role, and we look forward to continuing to work with him and the wider ICTU team on areas of common interest for Irish business.

“In addition, I would like to extend my sincere thanks to outgoing General Secretary Patricia King for her work throughout her tenure. Her continuous openness to engage with Ibec and other stakeholders on often challenging topics is a testament to her ambition of making Ireland a better place to live and work. On behalf of Ibec, we wish her every success for the future.”