Election of CTU officers

The 4 yearly elections forthe Council of Trade Unions officers occurred today in Wellington.

Successfully elected by the27 unionsaffiliated to the CTU were –

  • President, Richard Wagstaff. Wagstaff was re-elected for a second four year term.
  • Vice President, Rachel Mackintosh, re-elected for a second four year term.
  • Vice President Māori, Syd Keepa, re elected for the third time.
  • National Secretary and Treasurer, Melissa Ansell-Bridges (pictured) was elected to replace Sam Huggard, (who did not stand for re-election).

New CTU National Secretaryand Treasurer Melissa Ansell-Bridges comes to the CTU from her previous role ofDirector of Equity New Zealandwhere she had worked since 2016. As the Director of a small union, sheoversaw all areas of the union’s operations. Ansell-Bridges has been amember of the Film Industry Working Group where she hassuccessfully advocated to secure the right for contractors in the screenindustry to be able to collectively bargain for minimum terms and conditions.She holds a BA/LLB(Hons) with majors in Politics and Sociology.

Ansell-Bridges believes deeply in the power of workingpeople to come together to create social change, “Working people and theirunions have the ability to make New Zealand a better place at work and alsomore broadly within society as well. The power of collective action; what canbe achieved when we work together, is a deep motivator for me.”

/Public Release. View in full here.