Tomada was born in the Palermo neighborhood of Buenos Aires to a family with a history of involvement in politics: his mother, a teacher, was a Socialist and daughter of a Socialist member of the Argentine Chamber of Deputies, and his father was a Peronist lawyer. He played rugby for the Gimnasia y Esgrima de Buenos Aires club, and at the Colegio Nacional de Buenos Aires. He enrolled at the University of Buenos Aires, was active in the Peronist Youth, and earned a law degree in 1973. He and his wife, Clarisa, married in 1971 and had two sons. As a lawyer, lecturer and trade unionist he has been involved in issues of employment and labor rights. He served as consultant to the International Labour Organization, the United Nations Development Programme, and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation from 1986 onward, and from 1987 to 1989, served was National Director of Labor Relations. Tomada was named Professor of Labor Relations at his alma mater in 1988, served as Department Dean, and taught at the National University of La Matanza. Retaining his teaching post, he served a labor law advisor to the CGT, the nation's largest trade union, from 1989 to 1992. He acted as a labor disputemediator in subsequent years, and in 1997, was invited to the First World Summit of Labor Mediation. President Eduardo Duhalde appointed Tomada Secretary of Labor in 2002. He was a founding member of the Calafate Group, a think tank organized with Governor Néstor Kirchner in 1998, and on May 25, 2003, he was sworn into the Cabinet in his current post as Minister of Labor, Employment, and Social Security by the newly elected President Kirchner. Tomada headed the Front for Victoryparty list in 2007 for the election of National Deputies representing the city of Buenos Aires. He was elected in October 2007; but forfeited his seat for a reappointment as Minister of Labor by President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. Serving both Kirchner administrations in this capacity, he became the longest-serving cabinet member since the advent of Kirchnerism in 2003. His tenure was highlighted by the August 2004 establishment of the National Council on Employment, Productivity, and Minimum Wages, which he presides and which periodically sets minimum wages and other labor guidelines. High inflation further underscored the importance of the council, which took part in numerous collective bargaining talks between management and organized labor. Tomada also served as President of the ILO Administrative Council in 2005 and 2006, and remained active in the ILO afterward. He announced his candidacy for Mayor of Buenos Aires in 2011 as a FpV candidate. Tomada was not nominated, but instead became the running mate to FpV nominee Daniel Filmus. Their ticket was defeated in a July runoff election by incumbent Mayor Mauricio Macri; Tomada retained his Labor portfolio.
