After seven years, prominent unionist Paul Howes is stepping down from the board of AustralianSuper ahead of his departure as national secretary of the Australian Workers Union on July 1.

Mr Howes was a deputy chair of ­AustralianSuper, which has more than 300,000 members, because of his post at the AWU. The equal representation arrangement common with industry funds reserves board seats for trade union leaders as well as employer ­associations.