1 November, 2010
Spain’s ICEM-affiliated Confederación Sindical de Comisiones Obreras (CC.OO) announced the passing of its first General Secretary, Marcelino Camacho, last Friday, 29 October.
Marcelino Camacho, 92, a symbol for trade union rights and democracy in Spain, dedicated his life to the fight for those most in need, for justice and solidarity.
The son of a railwayman, Camacho was a fighter for freedom and workers’ rights since his youth. Fighting Franco’s 1939-1975 fascist dictatorship, and spending a total of 14 years in prison and concentration camps, as well as several years of political asylum in Algeria, Marceline Camacho was a true working-class hero.
Marcelino Camacho
In the late 1950s, Camacho and his comrades founded the CC.OO, now Spain’s largest trade union confederation. He was elected General Secretary at its first congress in June 1978, and was re-elected at the second and third congresses.
He was a member of the Spanish Communist Party, and was elected to the Spanish Parliament during the first democratic elections in 1977 following the defeat of the Franco regime. He resigned from the Parliament in1981 to devote himself to trade unionism.
On resigning from the post of General Secretary at the 4th Congress of CCOO, Camacho was elected as President, a post he held until 1996.
His important role was acknowledged with numerous honours and awards, in Spain and abroad.