Lord Bill Brett, Chairperson of the ILO Governing Body for 2002-2003, Lord Brett has had a long and committed career with trade unions. Bill Brett became General Secretary of the Institution of Professionals, Managers and Specialists in July 1989, and was re-elected as General Secretary for a further five-year term in 1994. He was a member of the General Council of the British Trades Union Congress and sat on the Executive Committee of the Public Services International from 1989 to 1999. Bill Brett has been Chairperson of the Workers’ group of the ILO Governing Body since 1993. Made a Lord in 1999, he presented the 1970’s BBC radio show, “Union Scene” and is the author of the book, “International Labour in the 21st Century”, a personal view on the ILO as a “monument to the past or a beacon for the future?”
Daniel Funes de Rioja, Employer Vice-Chairperson of the ILO Governing Body and Chairperson of the Employers’ group, Mr Funes is also Executive-Vice President of the International Organisation of Employers. President of the Social Policy Department of the Argentinean Industrial Union, the Labour Affairs Department of the Coordinating Body of Foodstuff Products (COPAL) and the Management Board of the Argentinean Industrial Relations Committee, Mr Funes has also been Chairman of the Business Technical Advisory Committee on Labour Matters (CEATAL) of the Organization of American States since 1995. A lawyer and Doctor of Laws and Social Sciences, he is currently a professor of Constitutional Law at Universidad Católica Argentina, Director of the Labour Studies Centre at Universidad Argentina de la Empresa and President of the Social Policy Department of Unión Industrial Argentina. A regular lecturer at national and international levels, he is the founder and head of the law firm Funes de Rioja & Associados.
Sir Leroy Trotman, Workers’ spokesperson of the ILO Governing body, Sir Leroy was elected General Secretary of the Barbados Workers’ Union in 1992 and became President of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions the same year, representing 158 million workers. He held the position for two four-year terms and is currently a Vice President. He was elected to the Governing Body for the first time in 1993, chairing the Workers’ Sub-Committee to determine an ILO Protocol on Tripartite Consultation in June 1996, and the Workers’ Group Sub-Committee to determine the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention in 1998 and 1999. Born in St Joseph, Barbados, he was elected President of the Caribbean Congress of Labour in 1989 and in 1992, and was made a Knight of St. Andrew in the 2002 Independence Honours for his outstanding service to Barbados.
Eui-Youg Chung, Government Vice-chairperson of the ILO Governing Body, Mr Chung is Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Republic of Korea to the UN and other international organizations in Geneva. He now serves as Chair of the Special Session of the TRIPs Council for the Doha Development Agenda at the WTO and Special Coordinator for the Review of the Agenda at the Conference on Disarmament. He has had a distinguished career both in Korea and abroad. Ambassador to Israel prior to his appointment as Deputy Minister for Trade in 1988, his other diplomatic posts include Ottawa, Bangkok, Washington D.C, and Brussels. In the Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, he has held key posts including Director of the Trade Policy Division, Deputy Director General for Information Analysis, Spokesman, and Director-General of the International Trade Bureau.
Antonio Peñalosa, Secretary-General of the International Organization of Employers (IOE) since 1999, Mr. Peñalosa completed his studies in Economic, Political and Business Sciences - with a specialization in Business Administration followed by post-graduate studies on Economics of Integration. He began his professional career in 1977 with the European Commission (Industrial Policy Directorate). The following year marked the beginning of his career with the IOE, joining the organization as an Assistant to the Secretary-General. In 1983 he was promoted to Executive Secretary and in 1994 IOE Deputy Secretary-General. Within the ILO, Mr. Peñalosa is Secretary and Coordinator of the Employers’ Group and is particularly active within the ILO Governing Body and International Labour Conference.
Guy Ryder, General Secretary of the ICFTU since 2002, Mr Ryder first worked as an assistant in the international department of Great Britain’s Trades Union Congress (TUC) from 1981 to 1985, before serving as Industry Trade Section Secretary at the International Federation of Commercial, Clerical, Professional and Technical Employees (FIET), now UNI, in Geneva from 1985-1988. From 1988 to 1998, he rose from assistant director to director of the ICFTU’s Geneva office. At the same time he served as secretary of the Workers’ Group of the ILO Governing Body from 1993 to 1998, and also as secretary of the Workers’ Group of the International Labour Conference from 1994 to 1998. From 1998 he worked at the International Labour Office as director of the Bureau for Workers’ Activities and was appointed Chief of Cabinet by Director-General Juan Somavía in March 1999.