Sally McManus and Michele O'Neil Step Down from Top Roles at Australian Council of Trade Unions
Two of Australia’s most influential union leaders, Sally McManus and Michele O’Neil, have announced their resignations, triggering a leadership shakeup in the country’s trade union movement.
The secretary and president of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), Sally McManus and Michele O’Neil, announced their unexpected departures on Monday night after eight years of joint leadership. Their team was the first all-female leadership in the ACTU’s 99-year history.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described them as personal friends and “giants of the labour movement.” The pair played a crucial role in shaping the Albanese government’s workplace agenda, securing the right to disconnect, same-job-same-pay protections, criminalisation of wage theft, and minimum standards for gig economy workers.
The ACTU has recently begun targeting Pauline Hanson’s One Nation party, viewing it as the biggest political threat to Labor and an economic risk for working people. McManus will leave in August, while O’Neil will assist the new secretary before departing by the end of the year.
In a farewell video on social media, the pair said it was time for renewal. “Union membership is growing and workers have over 47 new workplace rights,” McManus said, but noted challenges such as cost-of-living pressures, artificial intelligence, and billionaires with excessive wealth and power.
Albanese stated that their “tireless advocacy and strong leadership” had put working families “in a stronger financial position today than they would otherwise be.” He highlighted significant wage increases in undervalued sectors, a record-low gender pay gap, and growing union membership for the first time in decades. O’Neil told ABC radio that it was the “right time” to leave, and new leadership would be “the best thing for workers” and “the best thing for the union movement.”
