Governing Body: the Director-General meets the Workers' Group

Geneva, 26 March 2012 (ACTRAV INFO) – ILO Director-General Juan Somavia met the members of the Workers' group of the Governing Body. During the meeting he emphasized that this would be the last Governing Body session that he would attend in the capacity of Director-General.

He recalled the cordial relations that he maintained with the trade union movement, both before his election to the ILO post and during his time as the head of the International Labour Organization.

“Everything that I have done here during my time in office, we have done together,” he declared. “For instance, it was with your support that we put in place the global Decent Work Agenda, the social dimension of globalization and the Global Jobs Pact. It was with the support of the international trade union movement that the ILO became part of the G20 summits. And that is very important.”

Rounding off his remarks, the Director-General underlined the challenges facing the trade union movement, notably the youth employment issue which will be discussed at the next International Labour Conference in June 2012.

In reply, several members of the Workers' group hailed the involvement of the ILO and its Director-General in supporting trade unionists who were under threat in their countries. The cases of Colombia and Julio Roberto Gomez; Guinea and Rabiatou Sérah Diallo; Fiji and Felix Anthony; and Bahrain and Abdullah Hussain were raised during the meeting, which took place on the sidelines of the 313th session of the ILO Governing Body (Geneva, 15-30 March 2012).