From 1997 to 2006, Paul Mackney was General Secretary of the National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher Education (NATFHE). When NATFHE merged with the AUT in 2006 to form the UCU, he was elected joint general secretary. He retired from union service in May 2007. He then worked part-time as an Associate Director of the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE) until May 2009.
