Career Siptu official John King set to become union’s general secretary

Siptu’s head of public sector, John King, is set to be elected as the organisation’s next general secretary when the union holds it biennial delegate conference in Galway.

Mr King, a career official with the union, was elected as one of three deputy general secretaries in 2017 and has been a key figure in the negotiation of recent public-sector pay agreements.

He also serves as secretary of the public services committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Ictu), a group that also includes other major unions including Fórsa, the teachers’ unions and the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation.

He previously worked in a number of roles within Siptu representing members in the public and the private sectors.

A number of the union’s other senior officials, including his fellow deputy general secretaries, Ethel Buckley and Greg Ennis, had been seen as potential rivals to succeed general secretary Joe Cunningham, who is due to step down in February.

With nominations now closed, however, Mr King’s was the only nomination received, so, barring a surprised rejection by delegates on November 10th, he will take over as the union’s leading figure next year.

With almost 200,000 members, Siptu is the largest trade union in the country and represents workers in almost every sector of the economy.

Like almost all other trade unions, however, it has been hit by a steady decline in the proportion of private-sector employees who have union membership.

The increased size of the country’s public sector has helped to offset the wider decline in density, or membership, which is now put at about 35 per cent overall and below 20 per cent in the private sector.

Siptu’s membership declined by about 5,000 last year, having previously been hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. The union is seen as facing big challenges on several fronts, but its numbers are said to have been improved this year.