Timothy John Roache (born 6 April 1962) is a British trade unionist who served as General Secretary of the GMB union from 2016 to 2020. [1]
Timothy John Roache (born 6 April 1962) is a British trade unionist who served as General Secretary of the GMB union from 2016 to 2020. [1]
Roache was born on 6 April 1962 and grew up in London, where his father was a shop steward on the docks. In 1979, he began working in the postroom of the GMB, over time being promoted to become a legal officer, then an organiser, and finally in 2007 as the union's Regional Secretary for Yorkshire and North Derbyshire. [2]
In 2009, Roache led a 13-week strike of refuse workers and street cleaners employed by Leeds City Council; this was the longest strike in the GMB's history. [3] He also ran the "End Foul Pay" campaign for football clubs to pay ground staff higher wages. [4]
Roache was elected as General Secretary and Treasurer of the GMB in November 2015, receiving 56.7% of the vote on a turnout of 4.2%, beating the one other candidate, Paul McCarthy. [5] Roache took up the post in 2016. [3] He was re-elected in 2019 with 61% of the vote. [6]
In April 2020 Roache resigned suddenly, on the grounds of ill health, [7] [8] amid reports he had been forced to resign. [9] A GMB statement said Roache's chronic fatigue syndrome illness some years ago had restarted and he resigned following medical advice. [10] After receiving anonymous allegations about Roache's conduct, the union conducted a barrister-led internal inquiry, [11] which concluded that bullying, misogyny, cronyism and sexual harassment were "endemic" within the union. [12]
Alongside his role in the GMB, Roache was the chair of the Centre for Labour and Social Studies (CLASS) and also of the Yorkshire and Humber Trades Union Congress. [4] Some reports suggested he was supportive of Jeremy Corbyn's leadership of the Labour Party and had criticised the 2015 Labour manifesto drawn up under Ed Miliband, [13] though other reports state he was not an enthusiastic backer, or a critic, of Corbyn. [9] [10] Roache did not back the 2016 challenge to Corbyn's leadership, saying "This is about democracy and respecting the Labour Party’s democratic process. Jeremy has a strong mandate, and it’s hugely disappointing that this is not being respected". [14]
In his spare time, Roache supports Arsenal F.C. and coaches his son's local football team, Kippax Juniors. He is also a father and a husband. [2]
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