Michele O'Neil Announces Departure as ACTU President, Backs Ben Carroll as Potential Leader In a significant shake-up for the Australian labor movement, Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) president Michele O'Neil has announced her departure, citing the "right time" for renewal. O'Neil's decision comes as the union movement celebrates a decade of gains in workers' rights and a resurgence in membership. As she leaves the helm, O'Neil has expressed her support for Ben Carroll, the current Victorian Labor leader, should he be chosen as her successor. With Victoria facing pressing issues such as a looming $200 billion debt, teacher strikes, and infrastructure woes, Carroll will need to prove his leadership credentials to address these challenges and unite the labor movement. Will Carroll's election as ACTU president mark a new era of leadership for the union movement, or will he struggle to live up to O'Neil's legacy?
Allan says Ben Carroll will have her ‘unqualified support’ as leader if chosen. Follow updates liveGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastACTU president says now is the ‘right time’ to leaveMichele O’Neil, the president of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, said it’s the “right time” to leave after she announced her departure alongside ACTU secretary Sally McManus.We thought about this and we just think that it’s time for renewal. The union movement is in good shape. We’ve seen changes in workers’ rights that have made a big difference in workers’ lives. We’ve seen the union movement starting to grow for the first time in decades. And next year will be the 100th anniversary of the ACTU. So we think it’s time for a new leadership team to come in.We have a debt heading towards $200bn in this state. We have teachers out striking in the streets because the state government and Ben Carroll can’t secure a pay deal. We have holes in the roads. You need a majority government to fix those problems, and you need someone with a plan.Now he might performatively call a royal commission tokenistically, now that he’s become leader, but that’s not out of sincere concern about corruption. That’s out of sincere concern about the polls and what that means for Victorian Labor. Continue reading...
