The Trades Union Congress (TUC) has announced today (Thursday) the election of its next president.

Dave Prentis, general secretary of public services union Unison, is appointed.

A member of the TUC General Council, TUC Executive and Trade Union Labour Party Liaison Committee, Prentis is also a director of the Institute of Public Policy Research, as well as a member of the TUC Commission on Vulnerable Employment. He is also an adviser to the Warwick Institute of Governance and Public Management and a visiting fellow of Nuffield College, Oxford as well as being President of Unity Trust Bank.

Prentis, who was brought up in Leeds and holds a masters degree in industrial relations, is vowing to put the plight of vulnerable workers at the top of his agenda.

“In the coming year I want to work as an ambassador for the TUC and all the unions, in every sector of the UK economy. Top of my agenda will be continuing to expose the plight of the thousands of vulnerable workers whose experience of work in the UK is often one of poverty wages, excessive hours and shocking ill-treatment. I plan to use the next 12 months to get the government to act against these rogue bosses and to encourage employers to take their responsibilities to their staff seriously.”