19 Facts About Paul Howes

Paul Howes was born on 23 August 1981 and was involved in the Australian trade union movement from 1999 through 2014.

In 2008, Howes was elected as Vice President of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, and he served on a number of Government boards.

Paul Howes resigned from his position as AWU National Secretary on 24 March 2014; he formally stepped down in July.

Paul Howes entered politics while still at Blaxland High School in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales, joining the far-left political groups Democratic Socialist Party and Resistance.

Paul Howes did not finish high school, leaving in Year 9.

However, by the age of 16, after a "solidarity" trip to Cuba to the World Festival for Youth and Students, Paul Howes abandoned far-left politics and joined the Australian Labor Party.

Paul Howes became a union official at the age of 17 when he was employed as a research officer by the Labor Council of New South Wales.

Paul Howes joined the Australian Workers' Union as an official in New South Wales in 2002 and was later recruited to the National Office of the union.

Paul Howes was elected National Secretary of the Australian Workers' Union following the election of former AWU National Secretary Bill Shorten to the Australian House of Representatives in November 2007.

Paul Howes was Deputy Chair of AustralianSuper, one of the largest superannuation trusts in Australia.

Paul Howes was a member of the National Executive of the Australian Labor Party.

Paul Howes was a director of the Chifley Research Centre and the McKell Institute as well as representing the Asia Pacific Region on the executive committee of the IndustriALL Global Union.

Paul Howes came to national attention as a union spokesperson for the miners during the Beaconsfield Mine Disaster.

In December 2008, Paul Howes was elected Vice President of the Australian Council of Trade Unions.

In November 2010 Paul Howes wrote Confessions of a Faceless Man: inside campaign 2010, an autobiographical analyses of the election and 18 months in Australian politics.

In 2013, Paul Howes was considered for an appointment to the Australian Senate, but subsequently withdrew his nomination in September, while announcing his intention to continue to serve as the national secretary of the Australian Workers Union.

In explaining his reasons for stepping down, Paul Howes stated that his public support for gay marriage had drawn the ire of pro-Catholic right-wing members of the ALP.

Paul Howes called for a new partnership between business, government and unions to collaborate and agree to a framework which could provide a stable industrial relations environment.

Paul Howes declared agreement with the Abbott government saying there had been "unsustainable growth in wages" in some sectors of the economy.