Ken Douglas, ONZ

Order of New Zealand

The Order of New Zealand is the highest honour in New Zealand's honours system, created "to recognise outstanding service to the Crown and people of New Zealand in a civil or military capacity"...

 (born 1934) is New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

's best known contemporary trade union

Trade union

A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...

 leader.

As President of the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions

New Zealand Council of Trade Unions

The New Zealand Council of Trade Unions is a national trade union center in New Zealand. The NZCTU represents 360,000 workers, and is the largest democratic organisation in New Zealand....

 until 1999 Douglas led the union movement in New Zealand for over fifteen years. His union career started in the Driver's Union. He was also leader of the Socialist Unity Party in the 1970s and 1980s and stood for Parliament on occasion never gaining more than 100 votes in the Porirua

Porirua

Porirua is a city in the Wellington Region of New Zealand, immediately north of the city of Wellington, with their central business districts 20 km apart. A large proportion of the population commutes to Wellington, so it may be considered a satellite city. It almost completely surrounds...

 electorate.

Since his retirement from the CTU Douglas has been active in local politics as a Porirua

Porirua

Porirua is a city in the Wellington Region of New Zealand, immediately north of the city of Wellington, with their central business districts 20 km apart. A large proportion of the population commutes to Wellington, so it may be considered a satellite city. It almost completely surrounds...

 City Councilor (1998-), Porirua Licensing Trustee (2001-) and elected member of the Capital and Coast District Health Board (2004-). Douglas has served on board of Air NZ

Air New Zealand

Air New Zealand Limited is the national airline and flag carrier of New Zealand. Based in Auckland, New Zealand, the airline operates scheduled passenger flights to 26 domestic destinations and 24 international destinations in 15 countries across Asia, Europe, North America and Oceania, and is...

, NZ Post, NZ Trade and Enterprise

New Zealand Trade and Enterprise

New Zealand Trade and Enterprise is the government of New Zealand's official economic development agency. It works to stimulate growth, boost export earnings, strengthen regional economies, and deliver economic development assistance to industries and individual businesses...

, New Zealand Rugby Union and Healthcare NZ.
Ken married Lesley and they had four children, Jane, Peter, Helen and John.

An acknowledged Marxist, Douglas has moved to the right over the last two decades and currently sits on the New Zealand Post

New Zealand Post

New Zealand Post, commonly referred by its acronym, NZPost is a State owned enterprise responsible for providing postal service in New Zealand.-History:...

 and NZRU Boards. He is also chairperson of Positively Wellington Business and a board member of the Asia NZ Foundation.

In 2006 a two hour documentary was shown on New Zealand's TV ONE about Douglas's life, entitled
"Ken Douglas, Traitor or Visionary".