The Central Organization of Trade Unions, COTU (K), Secretary General Dr. Francis Atwoli was Monday re-elected for the fourth term to the position of Vice President of the International Trade Union Confederation, ITUC, during the ongoing fifth Congress in Melbourne, Australia.
The ITUC remains the largest trade union organization in the world with a membership of over 200 million drawn from 163 Countries and has its headquarters in Brussels, Belgium.
Atwoli’s name was proposed on the floor of the over 2000 delegates to the Congress and unanimously approved by the delegates hence granting him another four years term in the leadership of the ITUC.
Earlier on during the ongoing congress, Atwoli was elected, unopposed, to the Seven-Member Credentials Committee.
The Credentials Committee is an important Committee, within the architecture of the ITUC, that determines who qualifies as a delegate of the ITUC to participate in the elections of the ITUC. It also reports on the composition of the various delegations per country as well as the extent of their individual voting power.
Further, Atwoli was, equally elected, unopposed, as a titular member to the General Council of the ITUC to represent the Eastern Africa Region, after being proposed by a delegate from Tanzania and seconded unopposed by his colleagues in the region including by trade union leaders from Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Somalia, Mauritius among others.
Others elected during the hotly contested ITUC elections were the new Confederation’s General Secretary Luca Vasentini from Italy who garnered a total of 65 million votes beating his main challenger Kemal Ozkan from Turkey who got 23 million votes represented by the 2000 plus delegates who attended the Congress.
In his acceptance speech to the Congress, Atwoli recognized and appreciated the ‘huge’ confidence that his trade union colleagues worldwide continue to have in him to serve them adding that…
“The position you have just bestowed on me this morning isn’t an easy one, you are sending me to war, to fight for working men and women wherever they are in the world, am only your soldier whose actions will always come from you, the commanders, and I will never let you down, I will stand for your interests and put up my life for you always,” he said.
Atwoli further assured the new General Secretary of the support from COTU (K) in ensuring he delivers on his vision.
He welcomed the GS to Kenya as COTU (K) looks forward to hosting the Congress of ITUC-Africa which will bring over 1000 delegates from Africa and beyond. In the same breath, he thanked Sis.
Sharan Burrow, the outgoing ITUC General Secretary, for her dedication to strengthening the trade union movement in Africa during her tenure.
The fifth Congress of the ITUC started on Thursday, November 17, 2022 and Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese addressed the delegates reiterating that governments world over have every obligation to respect the important role trade unions continue to play and should support workers’ calls for ratification of various International Labour Organization, ILO Conventions to better terms and conditions of work for workers.
Other than being the Vice President of the ITUC, Atwoli also serves as a member of the ILO Governing Body (Geneva) and President of the Organization of African Trade Union Unity, OATUU, with headquarters in Accra, Ghana.
