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ASLEF Assistant
General Secretary has today (Wednesday) been elected
as the new President of the TUC at the union body's annual
conference in Brighton.
Simon Weller will serve in the role
for a year and preside over the TUC Congress in September
2027.
He will also chair the TUC's General
Council and Executive Committee.
Union
Activist
Simon Weller has
been ASLEF's Assistant General Secretary for
the last 17 years. He has been a member of the labour
movement and the Labour Party all his adult life.
He started his career in the
railway in 1987 when still a teenager first as
a driver assistant, and then train driver, working
out of depots at Waterloo, Aberystwyth, Westbury, Warrington
and Brighton.
Simon joined
ASLEF immediately and became a branch chair at the age
of 19, eventually climbing through the ranks to
join ASLEF's executive committee in 2006.
After over 20 years of train
driving, he was elected ASLEF AGS in 2009
becoming responsible for education, equalities,
pensions, recruitment and inter-union relations,
and covering for the general secretary in his
absence.
He joined the TUC's general council in
2011.
Speaking on his election
as President, Simon Weller said:
It is an honour to be elected
president of the TUC's general council. I will be the third
ASLEF member and train driver to serve in that position, after
John Bromley in 1932/33 and Ray Buckton in
1984/85.
Like those years, these are momentous
times, with the world plunging into irrevocable change, with the
rise of the far-right and the collapse of seemingly
safe jobs.
I was privileged to have started with
British Rail in the 1980s in a job that gave me a full career
from a young age. A career that allowed me to buy a
house, bring up a family, and provide security for
them.
My focus will be ensuring other young
people can follow in those footsteps. Apprenticeships
have their place, but we are seeing a shortage of decent jobs and
decent careers for young people that must
change.
I look forward to working with all TUC
affiliates over the next year to deliver on our mission to create
a fairer, more prosperous, and more equal Britain for all.
TUC General
Secretary Paul
Nowak said:
We welcome Simon as our President for
the next year. He is an impressive union leader with years of
experience in his field and a dedication to members and his
industry.
Simon takes on the role of President
at a pivotal time for workers. I'm excited to be
working with him to ensure the Employment Rights
Act is delivered in full, and to stave off the threats of the far
right.
It's great to have Simon at
the helm as TUC President, as we steer forward as a united labour
movement, working together to help make work
pay.
