28 June, 2010Delegates from around the world gathered at the second World Congress of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) to promote peace, non-violence and gender equality around the globe. At the conclusion of the Congress delegates elected their first female General Secretary, Sharan Burrow.
GLOBAL: On June 21 through 25, over 1,400 delegates from around the world of whom 50 per cent were women met in Vancouver, Canada at the second World Congress of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), which represents the collective interests of 176 million workers in 156 countries and territories.
The delegates discussed a number of subjects many of which related to the global financial and economic crisis and issues including labour demands to reform the global economy in order to prevent a repetition of the crisis. The delegates made a special emphasis on subjects regarding workers' rights, migrant workers, climate change and HIV/AIDS.
The ITUC Congress adopted a number of resolutions including resolutions on a decent life for young working men and women; organizing; global unions and global business; sustainable and just development model for the 21st century; the International Labour Organization; climate change and sustainable development; migrant workers; social protection and good occupational health and safety; promotion and defense of fundamental workers' rights; democracy, peace, security and the role of the United Nations. Full texts of the resolution are published on the ITUC website.
On last day of the Congress the delegates elected Sharan Burrow as General Secretary of the ITUC. Burrow will succeed Guy Ryder, the first General Secretary of the ITUC, who was elected at the ITUC foundation Congress in Vienna in 2006. Sharan Burrow was the President of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), holding this position since 2000. She is the first women to take this position in the ITUC.
"The ITUC is still facing many challenges in the wake of the global financial crisis. Although we have seen some exceptional results in a small number of countries including Brazil, Argentina, China and Australia, the recovery in jobs has not been universal. Global unemployment and underemployment continued to rise throughout 2009 and during the first half of this year," Burrow added.