Episode description

Frances O’Grady is the General Secretary of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), the UK's umbrella group for unions, representing millions of workers. She is the first woman in the 154 year history of the TUC to hold this post, which she took up in 2013.

Frances is the youngest of five children, and was brought up in Oxford. Her family has strong links with the trade union movement: her great grandfather and grandfather were founder members of the Irish Transport and General Workers’ Union, and her father was a shop steward at the British Leyland plant in Cowley.

Thanks to strong encouragement from one of her teachers, Frances was the first of her family to go to university, studying History and Politics at Manchester. After graduation, she moved to London and worked in shops and the hospitality industry, becoming a union rep before getting a job at the Transport and General Workers Union. She joined the TUC in 1994 as Campaigns Secretary, became Deputy General Secretary in 2003 and General Secretary a decade later. In 2020, during the pandemic, she worked with the government on the furlough scheme, providing support for workers whose usual employment.

In April 2022, she announced that she would step down from her post at the end of this year.

DISC ONE: It’s Not Unusual by Tom Jones DISC TWO: Burn It Down by Dexys Midnight Runners DISC THREE: Double Barrel by Dave & Ansell Collins DISC FOUR: Atmosphere by Joy Division DISC FIVE: Funkin' for Jamaica by Tom Browne DISC SIX: Hello Stranger by Barbara Lewis DISC SEVEN: Pieces of a Man by Gil Scott-Heron DISC EIGHT: A Change Is Gonna Come by Sam Cooke

BOOK CHOICE: History by Elsa Morante LUXURY ITEM: A painting set with edible paints CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Double Barrel by Dave & Ansell Collins

Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Sarah Taylor