He then worked part-time as an Associate Director of the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE) until May 2009 when he took ill-health retirement.
[1] During his time in college, he joined the International Socialists and became active in campaigns to strengthen the rights of the unemployed and those on public assistance.
[4] Mackney was elected as the NATFHE representative to the Birmingham Trades Council in the late 1970s, eventually becoming Vice-President and President.
[1] Mackney was appointed a Regional Official for NATFHE in the West Midlands in 1992, and elected General Secretary of the union in 1997.
Mackney discovered the union was nearly £1 million in debt, the National Executive Committee was deeply splintered, the staff morale low, and the organisation drifting.
[2] Mackney worked to improve the effectiveness and strength of NATFHE by seeking a merger of the trade union with the Association of University Teachers.
After an extensive recovery, he declined to run for the position of General Secretary of the UCU and retired from active union life.
[2][7] The offices of the Unite Against Fascism Campaign, backed by over 20 trade unions, were located in the NATFHE building in Britannia Street, Kings Cross.
[9] The offices of the Stop the War Campaign, which organised the biggest British demonstration in labour history, were located in the NATFHE building in Britannia Street, Kings Cross.