For many of our readers, the name “Paul Nowak” might not ring a bell.
And yet, this little-known man is the general secretary of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) – the commander-in-chief of Britain’s six-million-strong labour movement. He ought to be a household name!
Mr. Nowak’s obscurity can be quite simply explained: the TUC – as the ‘general staff’ of the workers’ movement – ought to be at the forefront of the fight to improve workers’ lives, providing militant leadership in the struggle against capitalism.
And yet, despite the deep, decades-long crisis of capitalism we are living through, strike levels are at an historic low.
The biggest peak of industrial action was 100 years ago – during the mighty General Strike of 1926. Even the 2022-23 strike wave – powerful as it was – pales in significance to the 1970s and ‘80s. And since the most recent strike wave ebbed, the number of days lost to strike action per year has been lower than during the post-war boom – a period of relative progress, prosperity, and class peace.
Listen to what the TUC leaders have to say, and it becomes clear why this has been the case. Instead of proposing a clear vision and a strategy for a real transformation of society, Nowak spends his time praising and cosying up with the current (and previous) Labour government – which is carrying out austerity and attacks upon the working class.
Britain’s trade union leaders have led the movement down a blind alley for decades. As a result, union members feel more alienated from their unions than ever before. Meanwhile, entire sections of the working class have nothing to do with the unions whatsoever.
So why are these ‘leaders’ so useless? Well, one set of headlines from the last few days has shed light on some cold, hard facts: Paul Nowak and his ilk are nothing but class traitors.
Scabs-in-chief
On the closing day of the uneventful TUC annual congress in Brighton, Labour’s new, warmongering chancellor, John Healey, decided to reward Nowak for his years of service to the labour movement – by crowning him as a non-executive director of the Bank of England!
At this point, some readers might be confused: how can someone be both the foremost ‘leader’ of the working class – and a director of the central bank in the world’s sixth biggest capitalist economy? Surely, this is a major conflict of interest!
Be assured, Paul Nowak knows exactly what he is doing. Believe it or not, this man used to be a self-professed revolutionary Marxist. He even wrote some articles for Socialist Appeal (the predecessor of The Communist) back in the 1990s. He clearly abandoned that path – long, long ago.
Interestingly, in one article he railed against the “class collaborationist policies of the TUC leadership”, and how one of his predecessors ”hoped to gain the ‘respectability’ that he so desperately craves, winning fair weather friends in the City and in big business”.
Evidently, Nowak understands that the trade unions are hotbeds of careerism; that a revolving door exists between union leaderships, industry, and government; and that such methods are used by the capitalists to rein in the workers’ movement.
But, having learned about such lucrative opportunities for self-advancement, he must have thought to himself: “I want me some of that!”
His experiences along this path of corruption, meanwhile, will have proven the correctness of his convictions – or lack thereof. Nowak’s predecessor as TUC general secretary, Frances O’Grady, was also made a non-executive director at the Bank of England – herself following the footsteps of Dave Prentis, former general secretary of Unison, the biggest union in the country.
In fact, the TUC has casually admitted the existence of this revolving door. In an attempt to defend Nowak’s promotion, they pointed out that it’s not just Labour that have appointed TUC heads to the Bank of England – the Tories have a long history of doing so too!
TUC general secretary Paul Nowak has been appointed to the Court of the Bank of England. This follows in the footsteps of many trade unionists appointed by both Labour & Conservatives. Paul will be donating all his fees to the Bank Workers Charity & Everton in the Community.
— Trades Union Congress (@The_TUC) September 16, 2026
Later, O’Grady and her TUC predecessor, Brendan Barber – alongside Prentis and his Unison successor, Christina McAnea – were each in turn kicked up to the House of Lords to become Barons and Baronesses. From their comfy ‘red benches’, they continue their service to capital, surrounded by the élite ranks of Britain’s peers and aristocrats.
The next steps on the career ladder must be quite clear to our newest TUC graduate: continue being a servile lackey, and he too may become ‘Baron Nowak of the Wirral’ one day…
Not for nothing did Leon Trotsky call Britain’s trade union leaders the “labour lieutenants of capital”. From their super-inflated wages when they are in office; to the promise of positions and glory when they come out the other end: it is very lucrative indeed to sabotage the class struggle.
Hypocrisy
It should not go amiss, either, that this is the very same Nowak who sets the political tone for the rest of the trade union leadership.
The Morning Star – mouthpiece of the so-called ‘Communist’ Party of Britain and the trade union bureaucracy – ran two fawning front pages during TUC Congress: “NOWAK: MAKE THE RICH PAY!” and “Farage will sell us all out – Nowak”.
Cheers comrades! Trade union leaders Eddie Dempsey of RMT and Daniel Kebede of the NEU showing their support for the daily paper of the left at TUC Congress 2026 pic.twitter.com/sB9As9oj8S
— Morning Star (@M_Star_Online) September 15, 2026
In the former, we read:
“The Everton FC-loving union leader also predicted donation scandals will see the public give Reform UK leader Nigel Farage a ‘red card’ before the next general election as the so-called Burnham bounce spreads a ‘mood of optimism’ across Britain…
“‘I do think when you’ve got a Prime Minister talking about circuit-breaker and there’s talk about 40 years of the failed neoliberal experiment,’ [Nowak said,] ‘I think that what [the Congress motions] do is set out a very clear roadmap about what an alternative economic strategy could look like.’”
This pretty much sums up the political outlook of Nowak and his colleagues. While they denounce Farage as being in the pocket of the billionaires, they sow illusions in Burnham – who apparently is not.
Meanwhile, they place all of their hopes in the Labour government to adopt an “alternative economic strategy” that does away with “neoliberalism” – as if there can be a nicer, gentler form of capitalist rule.
Nowak may be a two-faced coward. But the rest of the trade union leaders have all absorbed this gibberish. They may find themselves in for a shock when their ‘old chum’ soon declares – from the board of the Bank of England – that austerity is not, in fact, a choice; that ‘difficult decisions’ need to be made to please Britain’s billionaire bond-market investors.
Meanwhile, Nowak’s appointment is a gift on a silver plate to Reform UK. Reform MP Lee Anderson commented that “the hypocrisy is astounding”. Similarly, right-wing commentators have readily snatched up the opportunity to denounce Nowak, who “lectured us on corruption”, and is now aboard the gravy train himself!
Ironically, Nowak spends a great deal of time posting on social media about Reform’s corruption, and the threat that Farage’s party poses to the working class. And yet, here he is being appointed by a pro-austerity government, to one of the central financial institutions of British capitalism!
This debacle should act as a warning to the rest of the labour movement: ditch the class-collaborationist pandering to ‘lesser-evil’ Burnham – which will never win over working-class Reform supporters – and instead wage class war against austerity!
These slippery characters and well-fed careerists should have no place in the workers’ movement – nevermind standing at its head. The sooner these labour fakers are driven out of our movement the better.
