Frances Lorraine Maria O'Grady, Baroness O'Grady of Upper Holloway (born 9 November 1959) became the

General Secretary Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...

of the British

Trades Union Congress The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is a national trade union centre A national trade union center (or national center or central) is a federation or confederation of trade unions in a country. Nearly every country in the world has a national tra ...

(TUC) in 2013, the first woman to hold the position. After O'Grady presented her resignation in 2022, Paul Nowak was selected to succeed her in January 2023; O'Grady sits as a life peer in the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

Early life and family

O'Grady was born in

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, one of five siblings in a family of Irish descent, and was brought up in the

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

faith. Her father was a shop steward at the Leyland car plant in Cowley. She was educated at

Milham Ford School Milham Ford School was a girls' secondary school in Oxford, England, located in the suburb of New Marston on Marston Road. It was founded in East Oxford in the 1880s and closed in 2003. History The school's origins lie in the 1890s when sisters ...

, a grammar school which became comprehensive during her time there. At

Manchester University , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...

, she earned a BA

Hons Honours degree has various meanings in the context of different degrees and education systems. Most commonly it refers to a variant of the undergraduate bachelor's degree containing a larger volume of material or a higher standard of study, or ...

in politics and modern history. She received a Diploma in Industrial Relations and Trade Union Studies at

Middlesex Polytechnic Middlesex University London (legally Middlesex University and abbreviated MDX) is a public research university in Hendon, northwest London, England. The name of the university is taken from its location within the historic county boundaries of ...

. She has two adult children, whom she raised as a working single parent, and currently lives in London.

Career

O'Grady worked for the

Transport and General Workers' Union The Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU or T&G) was one of the largest general trade unions in the United Kingdom and Ireland – where it was known as the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers' Union (ATGWU) to differentiate its ...

, where she opposed the abolition of the

Agricultural Wages Board The Agricultural Wages Board was a non-departmental government body which regulated wages for farm workers under the Agricultural Wages Act 1948, until it was abolished in the Conservative led government's " bonfire of the quangos" after the Enterp ...

, and campaigned for a

minimum wage A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees—the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor. Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation by the end of the 20th century. Bec ...

. She became TUC Campaigns Secretary in 1994 and founded the TUC Organising Academy in 1997, a scheme aimed at supporting a younger and more representative group of workers to become

labour movement The labour movement or labor movement consists of two main wings: the trade union movement (British English) or labor union movement (American English) on the one hand, and the political labour movement on the other. * The trade union movement ...

organisers. She became head of the TUC's organisation department in 1999, and was then elected as Deputy General Secretary in 2003. She led on the establishment of the union learning organisation unionlearn, which came into being in 2006. Unionlearn works with employers, unions and government to help around 220,000 workers per year to improve basic skills and access lifelong learning. She became TUC General Secretary in January 2013, succeeding Brendan Barber. In 2013, in line with the TUC, she was among those who gave their support to the People's Assembly in a letter published by ''The Guardian'' newspaper. ' She has been a member of the Resolution Foundation's Commission on Living Standards, as well as serving on the TUC's Commission on Vulnerable Employment, the Low Pay Commission and the High Pay Commission. She has campaigned prominently during the referendum on EU membership, as the TUC registered for the remain side, particularly citing concerns around the impact on workers' rights and jobs in export led industries. O'Grady has led a protest outside

Bestway Bestway Group is a British multinational conglomerate company based in London, England. It has its operations in United Kingdom and Pakistan. The group owns the UK's second-largest wholesaler serving 125,000 independent retailers and caterers ...

, Britain's largest family owned business. In February 2013 she was, as a result of her efforts, assessed as the 11th most powerful woman in Britain by ''

Woman's Hour ''Woman's Hour'' is a radio magazine programme broadcast in the United Kingdom on the BBC Light Programme, BBC Radio 2, and later BBC Radio 4. It has been on the air since 1946. History Created by Norman Collins and originally presented by ...

'' on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

. She was appointed as a Non-Executive Director of

Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the English Government's banker, and still one of the bankers for the Government of ...

in June 2019. In April 2022, O'Grady announced that she will leave her post as TUC's general secretary at the end of the year and will be replaced by Paul Nowak in January 2023. It was announced on 14 October 2022, that as part of the 2022 Special Honours, O'Grady would receive a

life peerage In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages A ...

, sitting for the Labour Party. On 9 December 2022, she was created Baroness O'Grady of Upper Holloway, ''of Wood Farm in the City of

''.

References

External links

*
Official TUC page
on Frances O'Grady , - {{DEFAULTSORT:OGrady, Frances 1959 births Alumni of the University of Manchester Alumni of Middlesex University English people of Irish descent General Secretaries of the Trades Union Congress British trade union leaders Living people People from Oxford Labour Party (UK) life peers Life peers created by Charles III Life peeresses created by Charles III 21st-century British politicians 21st-century British women politicians