Jeff Lawrence (born 17 May 1952) is an Australian

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ...

ist who was the Secretary of the

Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Union United Voice was a large Australian trade union, with over 130,000 members. United Voice members worked in a wide range of occupations including hospitality, childcare, teachers' aides, aged care, property services (cleaning, security, maintenan ...

(LMHU). Lawrence was Secretary of the LHMU, one of Australia's biggest unions, from 1990 to 2007. Lawrence was born in

Newcastle, New South Wales Newcastle ( ; Awabakal: ) is a metropolitan area and the second most populated city in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It includes the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie local government areas, and is the hub of the Greater Newcastle area ...

in 1952. He became an Assistant General Secretary of the Federated Miscellaneous Workers Union in 1986 and became the General Secretary two years later. The union changed its name two years later. Lawrence became the Vice-President of the

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

branch of the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms t ...

in 2002. In 2007, Lawrence was chosen to replace

Greg Combet Gregory Ivan Combet (; born 28 April 1958) is a former Australian politician and trade unionist. He was Secretary of the Australian Council of Trade Unions between 1999 and 2007. He was elected member for the New South Wales Federal seat of Ch ...

as the Secretary of the

ACTU The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), originally the Australasian Council of Trade Unions, is the largest peak body representing workers in Australia. It is a national trade union centre of 46 affiliated unions and eight trades and l ...

, Combet stood down to contest the safe

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the la ...

seat of Charlton in the 2007 Federal election. Lawrence resigned from his position with the NSW ALP when he became the Secretary of the ACTU."Lawrence denies he'll be a Rudd 'patsy'"
, ninemsn.com.au, 14 June 2007.

References

1952 births Australian trade unionists People from New South Wales Living people {{Australia-trade-union-stub