梅丽莎·唐纳利被澳大利亚工会理事会(ACTU)执行委员会任命为秘书长候选人，将于8月31日接替卸任的萨莉·麦克马努斯[1]。现年44岁的唐纳利是ACTU历史上最年轻的秘书长之一，目前担任公共社区和公共部门工会(CPSU)全国秘书[1]。麦克马努斯与Michele O'Neil组成了ACTU 99年历史上首个全女性领导团队，任职八年后宣布辞职[2]。
唐纳利在担任CPSU全国秘书的七年任期内实现了工会成员增长23%[1]。她承诺将重点解决生活成本危机并推进工作灵活性，但表示反对员工无限制在家工作的权利[1]。根据OECD数据，澳大利亚自2021年初以来实际工资下降了5%[1]。麦克马努斯警告新秘书长需应对工会成员数十年下降的问题[1]。唐纳利同时担任工党全国执行委员会成员，代表左翼派系[1]。
Melissa Donnelly, a 44-year-old union leader, has been appointed as the next secretary-general of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), assuming the role on August 31 following Sally McManus's departure [1]. Donnelly, currently national secretary of the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU), will become one of the youngest secretaries-general in ACTU history [1]. She replaces McManus and Michele O'Neil, who together formed the first all-female leadership team in the organisation's 99-year history and served for eight years [2].
During her seven years leading the CPSU, Donnelly oversaw a 23 percent increase in union membership [1]. She has pledged to address the cost-of-living crisis, citing OECD data showing Australian real wages have declined by 5 percent since early 2021 [1]. However, Donnelly has signalled her opposition to unlimited remote work rights for employees, even as one-fifth of staff in some federal government agencies work full-time from home [1]. McManus has cautioned that her successor faces the challenge of reversing a decades-long decline in union membership [1]. Donnelly, a member of the Labor Party's national executive committee representing the left faction, brings significant union experience to the leadership position [1].