Sharan Burrow


Sharan Leslie Burrow is the General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation and a former President of the Australian Council of Trade Unions . She is the first woman to become General Secretary of the ITUC since its foundation in 2006, and was the second woman to become President of the ACTU.

Early involvement in Australian labour movement

Burrow was born in Warren, New South Wales to a family with strong involvement in the labour movement. She graduated in teaching with the University of New South Wales in 1976 and became a teacher in the early 1980s, which allowed her to become involved in the New South Wales Teachers Federation. She later became President of the Bathurst Trades and Labor Council. Before becoming President of the ACTU she was also President of the Australian Education Union in 1992.

Presidency of the Australian Council of Trade Unions

Burrow was elected President of the ACTU in May 2000. The most significant public event of her term of office was the ACTU's 'Your Rights at Work' campaign against the Howard Government's 'WorkChoices' industrial relations legislation in the lead up to the 2007 Australian federal election. At the election, the Howard government was defeated, and the incoming Rudd Government repealed the WorkChoices legislation and replaced it with the Fair Work Act 2009, which was praised by the ACTU for its restoration and protection of many workers' rights which has been removed or jeopardised by the earlier legislation.
Burrow is a significant figure at the International Labour Organization.
At the time of her presidency with ACTU, a PPL policy program was passed in Australia, for which she said; this would give dignity and respect to women workers.
Burrow continued as President of the ACTU until the end of June 2010 when she demitted office and was elected General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation.

Involvement in international labour movement

Before her election as General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation on 25 June 2010,
Burrow was President of the ITUC from its foundation in 2006 until her election as General Secretary in 2010 and had previously been the first female President of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, a forerunner institution of the ITUC, between 2004 and its absorption into the ITUC in 2006.
Recognising the significance of her election as the first female leader of the world's largest international trade union organisation, in her acceptance speech after becoming General Secretary of the ITUC, Burrow underlined the necessity of female participation in organised labour:
Burrow is also the current President of the International Centre for Trade Union Rights.

World Justice Project

Burrow serves as an Honorary Co-Chair for the World Justice Project, which works to lead a global, multidisciplinary effort to strengthen the Rule of Law for the development of communities of opportunity and equity.