Paul Kenny
 | This article includes a list of generalreferences,butit lacks sufficient correspondinginline citations.(January 2023) |
Paul Kenny | |
|---|---|
| 8th General Secretary ofGMB | |
| In office 24 March 2005 – 31 December 2015 | |
| Preceded by | Kevin Curran |
| Succeeded by | Tim Roache |
| President of the Trades Union Congress | |
| In office 2012 | |
| Preceded by | Michael J. Leahy |
| Succeeded by | Lesley Mercer |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 31 October 1949 Hammersmith,London,England |
Sir Paul Stephen Kenny(born 31 October 1949) is a British former trade union leader. He served asGeneral Secretaryof theGMB,Britain's third biggest union.
Early life
[edit] |
Kenny left school at 15 and went to work forFuller, Smith & Turner's Brewery.He went to Latimer Foundation School in Hammersmith, which was closed; he was transferred to St Marks School at Bishops Park in Fulham. His first job in local government was for London Borough of Hammersmith as the park keeper of Brook Green, along with its tennis courts.
Trade unions
[edit]Kenny became a full-time GMB official in December 1979. In 1991 he became the Regional Secretary of the GMB London Region.
GMB leadership
[edit]Kenny had been defeated byKevin Curranin the 2003 GMB General Secretary Election to replaceJohn Edmonds.However, he was appointed Acting General Secretary on 24 March 2005 following Curran's resignation after allegedelection rigging.
In May 2006 he was elected unopposed as GMB General Secretary. He was elected again in 2010 for a further five years unopposed.
Between 2010 and 2016, he was the chair of the influential Trade Union & Labour Party Liaison Organisation.
Campaigns
[edit]Kenny has been heavily involved in campaigns, includingASDA,private equitycompanies (such as their ownership of theAA), public sector pay increases, and privatised utility companies. He led target campaigning against blacklisting of trade unionists by the construction industry. In August 2014, Kenny was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter toThe GuardianopposingScottish independencein the run-up to September'sreferendum on that issue.[1]
Personal life
[edit] |
Kenny now lives on theIsle of Wight.He married Patricia Ward in 1969 in Hammersmith. He has two sons and four grandchildren, and supportsFulham F.C.
In the2015 Queen's Birthday Honours,Kenny was appointed aKnight Bachelor"for services to trades unions".
References
[edit]- ^"Celebrities' open letter to Scotland – full text and list of signatories | Politics".theguardian. 7 August 2014.Retrieved26 August2014.
