Skip to content or view mobile version

Home | Mobile | Editorial | Mission | Privacy | About | Contact | Help | Security | Support

A network of individuals, independent and alternative media activists and organisations, offering grassroots, non-corporate, non-commercial coverage of important social and political issues.

Growing concern over the Leadership of the International Trade Union Confederati

Daniel D. Bishensky | 26.01.2015 16:05 | Workfare | Analysis | Workers' Movements

Sharan Burrow is member of the governing body of the ILO and general secretary of the ITUC. While she was President of ACTU in Australia she authorized a anti Howard political campaign in 2006 which was placed in in boxes of 200 ILO delegates. This happened twice and it is a serious breach of ILO protocol.


Sharan Burrow was appointed as the General Secretary of the ITUC in 2010 following the second congress of the organisation in Vancouver. Even though Sharan Burrow has allegedly spent a large part of her life fighting for workers´ rights, it seems that her interests align closer with employers, and to a larger extent with her political allies.

Before the election at the ITUC, Burrow was the president of the Australian Council of Trade Unions and also represented Australia at the International Labour Organisation. In 2006 Burrow was slammed publically in the Australian media for authorising leaflets which were heavily critical of incumbent Liberal Prime Minister John Howard into the letter boxes of some 200 ILO delegates. Despite criticism, Ms Burrow made the bold move again the same year, breaching the terms of the ILO constitution.

Political disputes at the domestic level are not welcome at the international organisation yet Burrow continued to make waves by applying through the ACTU to list Australia as one of the worst places to work. This would mean that Colombia would be more appealing as a place of work, even though unionists are targeted and often killed.

Understandably, John Howard´s reforms to the role and rights of worker unions went against the agenda of Ms Burrow, who sought to strengthen Howard´s political opponents. Juliana Gillard restored that influence when she was elected, in Mrs Burrow and in an attempt to thank Burrow for her support, Gillard spoke fondly of her at her farewell. The election of such an individual to the International Trade Union Confederation undermines the integrity and legitimacy of the organisation.

She was criticized for praising labour policies in Australia that helped businesses gain more access to cheap labour. She has claimed credit for the introduction of the PPL (Paid Parental Leave) policy, which she claimed was a historic win for working women and the unions as well as a significant social reform in Australia. However the PPL policy was a scheme to give people longer lasting minimum wages during their leave, a move that favoured the interests of businesses.

ITUC has a leader that undermines her own legitimacy by acting to appease those she is not mandated to represent.

Daniel D. Bishensky

Upcoming Coverage
View and post events
Upcoming Events UK
24th October, London: 2015 London Anarchist Bookfair
2nd - 8th November: Wrexham, Wales, UK & Everywhere: Week of Action Against the North Wales Prison & the Prison Industrial Complex. Cymraeg: Wythnos o Weithredu yn Erbyn Carchar Gogledd Cymru

Ongoing UK
Every Tuesday 6pm-8pm, Yorkshire: Demo/vigil at NSA/NRO Menwith Hill US Spy Base More info: CAAB.

Every Tuesday, UK & worldwide: Counter Terror Tuesdays. Call the US Embassy nearest to you to protest Obama's Terror Tuesdays. More info here

Every day, London: Vigil for Julian Assange outside Ecuadorian Embassy

Parliament Sq Protest: see topic page
Ongoing Global
Rossport, Ireland: see topic page
Israel-Palestine: Israel Indymedia | Palestine Indymedia
Oaxaca: Chiapas Indymedia
Regions
All Regions
Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World
Other Local IMCs
Bristol/South West
Nottingham
Scotland
Social Media
You can follow @ukindymedia on indy.im and Twitter. We are working on a Twitter policy. We do not use Facebook, and advise you not to either.
Support Us
We need help paying the bills for hosting this site, please consider supporting us financially.
Other Media Projects
Schnews
Dissident Island Radio
Corporate Watch
Media Lens
VisionOnTV
Earth First! Action Update
Earth First! Action Reports
Topics
All Topics
Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista
Major Reports
NATO 2014
G8 2013
Workfare
2011 Census Resistance
Occupy Everywhere
August Riots
Dale Farm
J30 Strike
Flotilla to Gaza
Mayday 2010
Tar Sands
G20 London Summit
University Occupations for Gaza
Guantanamo
Indymedia Server Seizure
COP15 Climate Summit 2009
Carmel Agrexco
G8 Japan 2008
SHAC
Stop Sequani
Stop RWB
Climate Camp 2008
Oaxaca Uprising
Rossport Solidarity
Smash EDO
SOCPA
Past Major Reports
Encrypted Page
You are viewing this page using an encrypted connection. If you bookmark this page or send its address in an email you might want to use the un-encrypted address of this page.
If you recieved a warning about an untrusted root certificate please install the CAcert root certificate, for more information see the security page.

Global IMC Network


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech