Mallow man elected as union president
The Communications Workers’ Union (CWU) recently elected a Corkman as its new President at its 13th Biennial Delegate Conference in Sligo last week.
Tom Sheehan from Mallow has been elected CWU President for the next two-year period. The CWU represents workers across the postal/courier and eComms sectors.
Tom (62) has spent his career with eir, working across the access network, core network and IT. He joined what was then the Department of Posts and Telegraphs in 1981 as a trainee technician and has been a CWU member since his very first day in the job.
A long-standing activist within the union, Tom has served as Secretary of the Mallow Section of the Cork District Branch since 2003, joined the National Executive Council in 2014, and has been elected at every conference since.
In 2021, following the death of his colleague John Egan, he was appointed Staff Side Secretary at eir. At the 2024 Delegate Conference in Galway, Tom was elected Vice-President of the CWU.
New CWU President, Tom Sheehan, said: “It is a tremendous honour to be elected President of the CWU, a union I have been proud to be a member of since the first day of my working life. We have a clear and urgent mission ahead of us: to continue building and investing in our organising work in the workplace, and to defend every worker’s right to organise and to be represented by their trade union.
“I am acutely aware of the challenges facing workers right now. I want to thank the delegates for placing their trust in me. I am fully committed to leading an effective union – one that is true to its core beliefs and unwavering in its mandate to work on behalf of its members.”
CWU General Secretary, Seán McDonagh, said: “I want to warmly congratulate Tom Sheehan on his election as President of our union. Tom brings a lifetime of commitment to this union and a deep understanding of the world of work in our sector. The strength of our union lies in our members and in the leadership and dedication of elected officers like Tom, who has given so much over many years. I can assure him of the full support of myself and my fellow National Officers as he takes on this important role.”
Over 300 delegates from across the Irish postal/courier and eComms sectors gathered in Sligo for the Communications Workers’ Union 13th Biennial Delegate Conference, taking place at the Clayton Hotel last Wednesday and Thursday.