Paddy has been a full-time official for over 35 years and held the post of Deputy General Secretary for 14 years.
“It has been a real privilege to serve Usdaw over the years and I feel proud of what we have achieved together. My time as General Secretary has brought many challenges, but I will be retiring with the Union in very good shape financially and with growing membership.
“The Union has campaigned tirelessly for many years for increased protection for retail workers and stronger rights at work, and I will be leaving at a time when the Labour Government will be delivering on some of our campaigns.”
Dave McCrossen, Deputy General Secretary, has also announced he will be retiring in July after seven years in the role. Dave has been a full-time official for over 35 years.
A timetable for the election of General Secretary and Deputy General Secretary will be announced in the next few days.
Notes for editors:
Usdaw (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) is one of the fastest growing unions in the TUC and the UK's fifth biggest trade union with around 360,000 members. Most Usdaw members work in the retail sector, but the union also has many members in transport, distribution, food manufacturing, chemical industry and other trades www.usdaw.org.uk
Paddy Lillis, Usdaw General Secretary
Paddy Lillis became Usdaw’s General Secretary in July 2018, following overwhelming support from the Union’s branches across the UK for his nomination. He was re-elected to serve a further five-year term in November 2022.
In his time as General Secretary, Paddy has overseen the launch of a number of high-profile Usdaw campaigns, including a Retail Recovery Plan and the New Deal for Workers. He has worked with retailers and employers’ groups, such as the British Retail Consortium, to highlight the issues facing
the retail sector, and led campaigns calling for clear government action.
Paddy has also driven forward the Union’s Freedom From Fear campaign, which delivered new legal protections for shop workers in Scotland, with England, Wales and Northern Ireland set to follow suit.
Paddy serves on the TUC Executive Committee and TUC General Council, and he is a member of the TUC Anti-Racism Taskforce. He has also introduced a programme of work within Usdaw to improve representation of Black members at all levels in the Union.
He leads the Usdaw delegation to the Trade Union Congress and Labour Party Conference, where he has raised the key issues affecting Usdaw members. He has also represented Usdaw on Labour’s National Executive Committee for 14 years and was the NEC Chair in 2016.
Paddy has been an Usdaw member for over 40 years. He joined Usdaw when he was employed as a heavy goods vehicle driver at Abbey Meat Packers in Newtownabbey, County Antrim. He was appointed to the role of Usdaw Area Organiser in 1989 in the Bristol office, before becoming the Divisional Officer for South Wales and Western Division in 1997.
He then served as Deputy General Secretary of Usdaw for 14 years. He co-ordinated the Union’s recruitment campaigns, and the work of the very successful Organising Academy. During his 14 years in the role, the Union’s recruitment and organising strategy helped Usdaw to grow by more than 100,000 members.
Dave McCrossen, Deputy General Secretary
Dave McCrossen, a former employee of the Co-operative Retail Society, started his Usdaw career when he became an Area Organiser in 1989. Sixteen years later he was promoted to Deputy Divisional Officer. Working closely with Paddy Lillis, he was responsible for developing the organising agenda within the Division and seeing it grow from 39,000 members to more than 65,000. In 2014, Dave was successful in securing the position of Divisional Officer.
In 2018, he was elected as the Deputy General Secretary of Usdaw, where he is responsible for the Union’s Organising Agenda.
Dave is a member of the Labour Party’s National Policy Forum as well as the TUC’s General Purposes Committee.
For Usdaw press releases visit: http://www.usdaw.org.uk/news and you can follow us on BlueSky @usdawunion.bsky.social and Twitter/X @UsdawUnion