Elections 2023

Our union's strength comes from being led by our members. That’s why, as well as electing representatives for our own branches, once a year we elect officials to represent us all and sit on the Executive Committee.

Elections in the IWGB are organised by the Democracy subcommittee with the support of 'returning officers' from the staff team. Click here to read the full election rules. If you have any questions you can email the Democracy Subcommittee: democracysubcom@iwgb.co.uk.

Central Union Manifestos

Click on the links below to jump down the page. Click here to find out more about each position up for election.

General Secretary

President

Vice-President

Treasurer

Branch Support Officer

Women and Non-Binary Officer

BAME Officer (unreserved position)

BAME Officer (reserved position)

General Secretary

This role will be elected by all delegates at the AGM.

Henry Fabian Chango Lopez

My name is Henry Chango Lopez and I'm re-standing to be the General Secretary of the IWGB.

I have been General Secretary for the last three years. Since being elected, I have worked alongside branch officials, members, central union officials, and heads of departments to support branches with their campaigns. This involves making sure our members and officials get the resources and support they need across the union.

If you re-elect me, my vision for the IWGB has three principles:

1. Taking action! I want to continue supporting members with their campaigns and help them to achieve more victories across the sectors we represent. With the rise in the cost of living and the Government attacks on our fundamental freedoms such as the right to protest and strikes, it is now more important that we continue organising to fight back.
2. Developing members and new leaders! I want to continue supporting our members who come through the ranks by ensuring that they have the knowledge, confidence, and training to fulfil their roles. We need to empower each other to take action and encourage others to get involved and be part of our movement.
3. Building community! I want to continue building a union that embraces our values of solidarity, a union that promotes collective participation through our democratic structures, a union that is strong and united in every workplace to continue building our movement that bridges communities. We need a community that builds through struggles and leads to joint actions

President

This role will be elected by all delegates at the AGM.

Alex Marshall

I’m Alex and I am re-standing to be IWGB president.

I was a courier before becoming president in November 2020, working and organising in the gig economy for 8 years. I have fought many campaigns and use my experience to help empower workers to build power and lead campaigns. With bosses profiteering from the cost of living crisis, we need to get organised more than ever!

If re-elected, I will focus on three things:

1. Taking action! We cannot sit back and wait for things to get better. By organising, our members can change their work and fight for improvements. This year I will continue to support workers to end injustice, one workplace at a time.
2. Developing members and new leaders! We need more active and engaged workers with lived experiences of injustice. Their voices need to be heard and amplified. Through training, mentoring and involvement in actions, we can develop a new generation of empowered members that can lead transformative change.
3. Building community! From the Government to the bosses, there are so many structures that try to divide us. I want to work on ways to demolish these barriers between us and build a strong sense of community across the union. I want this to be done centering us in practices of care, rebuilding  and learning. Creating communal spaces where we can build resilience through making connections with each other and enabling us to imagine new ways for collective liberation by establishing cross movement solidarity.

Vice-President

This role will be elected by all delegates at the AGM.

Maritza Castillo Calle

My name is Maritza Castillo Calle and I'm standing for Vice President.

I have now been vice president for two years. During this time I have used my experience to help workers build confidence to launch campaigns and get involved. If you re-elect me as Vice President I will focus on:

1. Taking action! The campaigns and victories of migrant cleaners against Vodafone and London Bridge Hospital show that we can knock down barriers between workers to come together, take collective action, and win. Through this process we can learn as workers the power we have collectively and believe in ourselves to fight for significant changes. I want to continue empowering more and more workers to be able do that!
2. Developing members and new leaders! I have supported members in their roles and helped them grow in confidence. I want to put on more training for our members, particularly for migrants and non-binary people, so everyone can go on the same journey as I have to become active and bring about change.
3. Building community! I want to create more spaces for members to come together and realise they are part of a diverse community. Together we can build resilience through making connections and imagine new forms of collective empowerment. We need to speak to each other more to discuss our problems, think of solutions, and remind each other we are not alone. We are part of a movement who are fighting back and winning.

Branch Support Officer

The union received no nominations for this post.

Treasurer

This role will be elected by all delegates at the AGM.

Max Dewhurst

My name is Max Dewhurst and I'm re-standing to be the Treasurer of the IWGB.

I have been the Treasurer for the last two years. Since being elected, I have worked alongside branch officials, central union officials, and staff to support branches with financial planning, restructuring union fees and making big decisions that enable our union to grow in a sustainable way. We must make sure our members, officials and staff get the resources and support they need across the union, and I will keep working to make sure this continues to happen.

If you re-elect me, my work will support the three principles: taking action, building workers’ power and building community! But of these three, building and sustaining our community is the founding bedrock upon which the rest can grow.
We have done so much over the past decade, let’s work together to make sure we do even more of it over the coming weeks, months and years! Let’s build a strong, sustainable and fighting union that benefits all of us members, as well as wider society!

Women and Non-Binary Officer

This role shall be elected by women and non-binary delegates at the AGM.

Narcisa Salgado

My name is Narcisa Salgado, and I am standing for Women and Non binary officer. I work at LSHTM University as a cleaner and I am a member of the Universities of London Branch. I have been the Central Union Co-Bame officer for the last year. In this role, I have taken part in important union meetings, attended campaigns to support workers, and have been working with the Central Union officials to implement policies of inclusivity and participation.

If re-elected, I will work to build on these three keys areas:

1. Taking action! I want to use my own experience as a migrant women who have faced many challenges and fought discrimination at my workplace, in order to empower other members to speak up, give them the confidence they need  so they can fight for change and get more involved in their workplace organising and the union.
2. Building Workers’ Power! In many workplaces workers are discriminated against and scared to take action. I want to use my own experience to inspire others so they can have the confidence to make their voices heard and demand better working conditions and respect.
3. Solidarity matters! I want to highlight the stories of our diverse members, so that we can share our struggles and learn from each other. The diversity of our union's membership is its strength.

BAME Officer (unreserved position)

This role shall be elected by women and non-binary delegates at the AGM.

Martin Johnson Wogido

My names are Martin Johnson Wogido. I am standing for the position of BAME officer. I am a security guard at UCL and I am IWGB member of the Universities of London Branch.

I joined the IWGB while organising at UCL to improve upon our working conditions back in 2019. Over the past four years I have worked with members of the branch to organise and build our power to fight against the inequality and injustice faced by our members. I have worked with members across branches to strengthen our democracy and amplify the ability of our members to set direction within the Union as a whole.

If I am elected to the position of a BAME officer, the following principles will be my focus:

1. Taking action! We win when we take action. We want to find new ways to build campaigns that can win. Action is not a last resort but it builds organisation, power and our union. My motto will be : "Ever forward. Never backwards."
2. Building workers' power: We want to build a Union that makes every member part of the movement and every member empowered. This means building the confidence and capacity of the members across branches.
3. Building Community ! The diversity of our Union's membership is its strength. We bring together workers from different communities and sectors to fight together. We want to share our struggles and learn from each other.

If elected,  I want to help grow the IWGB  into a stronger Union. We can build on our history and the principles to take the Union forward. This means organising, supporting new leaders, building effective structures and winning campaigns.
This is my manifesto to you my comrades.

BAME Officer (reserved position)

The union did not receive any nominations for this post.