Frances O'Grady
Frances O'Grady
Frances Lorraine O'Gradyis the General Secretary of the British Trades Union Congress, the first woman to hold that position...
NationalityBritish
ProfessionActivist
Date of Birth9 November 1959
austerity biting evidence hard movement people policies trade union work
Never has a strong, responsible trade union movement been so needed. With austerity policies biting hard and with no evidence that they are working, people at work need the TUC to speak up for them now more than ever.
voice people giving
A business is good if it gives a decent day's reward for a decent day's work, treats people decently, and gives them a voice at the top.
thinking ideas people
Ordinary people who have lots of good ideas want more than a suggestion box, and they need a union to represent that thinking.
real fall people
With real wages still falling for many, people are increasingly being forced to use their credit cards, their dwindling savings, or take out payday or doorstep loans if they need to buy anything beyond the most everyday of items.
attitude people needs
I suspect there are people in all walks of life who need to be dragged into the 21st century in terms of attitudes towards women.
people wish firsts
You just wish sometimes that people would treat you like a human being rather than seeing your gender first and who you are second.
opportunity government people
There is this sense of David Cameron leading a Government that's badly out of touch with ordinary people's lives. I'd absolutely welcome the opportunity to show all political leaders what life is like for most people.
freedom goes half inevitable markets natural second
It is not natural or inevitable that half the world goes hungry; that the freedom of markets trumps protection of the planet; or that citizens' rights come second to those of corporations.
ashes chance economic
From the ashes of a financial crash, there is a chance to create a new economic settlement that is more equal, sustainable and democratic.
relevant says section unions work
There is nothing that says unions have a God-given right to be there. We have to work at it and make ourselves relevant to every section of the workforce.
approach causes crash dominant economic last letting market rip seen since thirty
The dominant economic approach of the last thirty years is now on its last legs. Letting the market rip and an indifference to inequality are now seen as important causes of the greatest economic crash since the 1930s.
complacent image increasing men number tune unions women
The image of the unions is still not in tune with where we actually are, which is fifty-fifty men and women, with an increasing number of women at the top. I think it is changing, but I'm not complacent about this.
difficulty government market plain rip work
The difficulty for the Government is there's this ideological straitjacket of the market will provide, let the market rip and everything will work out... It's back to trickle-down economics, which, it's plain to see, have not delivered.
austerity case critics decline identify opportunity paul rightly robert trade
In the U.S. the powerful critics of austerity such as Paul Krugman and Robert Reich rightly identify the decline of 'labor' as a problem, and renewing trade unionism part of the solution. Our opportunity is to make the same case in the UK.