Dave Ward (trade unionist)

Dave Ward, born 12 July 1959, is a British Trade Unionist and General Secretary of the Communication Workers’ Union (CWU), which was formed through the merger of the Union of Communication Workers and the National Communications Union in 1995. The CWU is the largest Trade Union in the United Kingdom for people working in the Postal and Telecommunications industry with over 200,000 members.

Born in Lambeth, London he joined the Post Office as a Telegram boy in 1976 after leaving school and quickly became an active Union member. He became a member of the Tooting Branch Committee of the CWU in 1981. Dave was elected as Branch Secretary in 1982. Following the re-organising of the Union’s Branch structure in 1992 he was elected Branch Secretary of the London South West Branch. In 1995 he became London Regional Secretary and in 1996 was elected London Divisional Representative. He played a leading role in the 1996 National Postal Dispute, which involved eight days of 24-hour strikes over an extended period and eventually forced Royal Mail to drop their plans to introduce ‘team working’.

In 2000 he was elected onto the Union’s National Executive and in 2001 he became National Officer for the Outdoor Department (Deliveries and Collections). Dave was elected as the CWU Deputy General Secretary in June 2003, dealing with a major London dispute in 2003 and national disputes in 2007 and 2010. In 2015, he was elected as the union's General Secretary, defeating the incumbent, Billy Hayes.

Dave Ward is a member of the Labour Party and served as the CWU’s representative on the Labour Party’s National Executive Committee but decided to step down from the role in 2007 because he believed it conflicted with the interests of the Union’s members. Dave remains a critical member of the party particularly over the issues of the Post Office/Royal Mail privatisation and liberalisation.

Dave Ward is married with four children. His hobbies and interests include football and music. Dave is a Chelsea FC fan and likes a wide range of music and plays the blues guitar.