Sharan Burrow

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 (AEU) in 1992.

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 At the election, the Howard government was defeated, and the incoming Rudd government repealed the WorkChoices legislation and replaced it with the Fair Work Act 2009, which was praised by the ACTU for its restoration and protection of many workers'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 (such as the right to organise and negotiate collectively) which has been removed or jeopardised by the earlier legislation.{{cite web

|title = ACTU Factsheet July 2009 – Fair Work Act 2009: better rights for working Australians and their families

|work = ACTU Online

|url = http://www.actu.org.au/Images/Dynamic/attachments/6583/actufactsheet090701-fairwork.pdf

|accessdate = 4 July 2010

|url-status = dead

|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20101201114632/http://www.actu.org.au/Images/Dynamic/attachments/6583/actufactsheet090701-fairwork.pdf

|archivedate = 1 December 2010

}}

At the time of her presidency with ACTU, a PPL (Paid Parental Leave) policy program was passed in Australia, for which she said; this would give dignity and respect to women workers.{{citation needed|date=August 2022}}

Burrow continued as President of the ACTU until the end of June 2010 when she demitted office and was elected General Secretary (i.e. leader) of the International Trade Union Confederation.{{cite web

| title=Member Profiles – Burrow, Sharan

| work=ACTU Worksite

| url=http://www.worksite.actu.org.au/member-profiles/burrow-sharan.aspx

| accessdate=4 July 2010

| archive-date=21 August 2011

| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110821115622/http://www.worksite.actu.org.au/member-profiles/burrow-sharan.aspx

| url-status=dead

}}

File:Cristina Fernandez con Saran Burrow-Gerardo Martinez y Hugo Yasky.jpg and two unionists from that country, in Cannes in 2011]]

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 (ICFTU), 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:

{{quote|I am a warrior for women and we still have work to ensure the inclusion of women in the work place and in our unions. The struggles for women are multiple – too often within their families for independence, then in the workplace for rights and equal opportunity, in their unions for access and representation and then as union leaders. But the investment in and participation of women is not only a moral mandate it is an investment in democracy and a bulwark against fundamentalism and oppression. Organising women is and must continue to be a priority for the ITUC.{{cite web

| title=Sharan Burrow Acceptance Speech

| work=ITUC Online

| url=http://www.ituc-csi.org/sharan-burrow-acceptance-speech.html?lang=en

| accessdate=4 July 2010

| date=20 June 2010

| archive-date=3 July 2010

| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100703110253/http://www.ituc-csi.org/sharan-burrow-acceptance-speech.html?lang=en

| url-status=live

}}}}

Since 2014, Burrow has been a member of the Global Commission for the Economy and Climate, co-chaired by Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Nicholas Stern and Paul Polman.[http://newclimateeconomy.net/about/members-global-commission/ Members] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210212022344/http://newclimateeconomy.net/about/members-global-commission/ |date=12 February 2021 }} Global Commission for the Economy and Climate.

• Danone, Member of the Mission Committee (since 2020)Leila Abboud (26 June 2020), [https://www.ft.com/content/1eff9241-ef11-4a38-8b5c-bb825fa108ca Danone adopts new legal status to reflect social mission] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210129194916/https://www.ft.com/content/1eff9241-ef11-4a38-8b5c-bb825fa108ca |date=29 January 2021 }} Financial Times.[https://www.danone.com/about-danone/sustainable-value-creation/danone-entreprise-a-mission.html Danone becomes an “Entreprise à Mission”] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126132836/https://www.danone.com/about-danone/sustainable-value-creation/danone-entreprise-a-mission.html |date=26 January 2021 }} Danone, press release of 24 June 2020.

• International Centre for Trade Union Rights (ICTUR),{{cite web

| title=ICTUR Homepage

| work=ICTUR Online

| url=http://www.ictur.org/

| accessdate=4 July 2010

| archive-date=25 August 2011

| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110825084434/http://www.ictur.org/

| url-status=live

}} President

• European Climate Foundation, Member of the Supervisory Board[https://europeanclimate.org/governance/ Supervisory Board] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210704170038/https://europeanclimate.org/governance/ |date=4 July 2021 }} European Climate Foundation.
• World Justice Project, Honorary Co-Chair{{cite web |url=http://worldjusticeproject.com/honorary-chairs |title=Honorary Chairs |publisher=World Justice Project |accessdate=24 February 2010 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090105164516/http://www.worldjusticeproject.com/honorary-chairs |archivedate=5 January 2009 }}{{cite web |url=http://worldjusticeproject.com/about/ |title=About the |publisher=World Justice Project |accessdate=24 February 2010 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100203064233/http://www.worldjusticeproject.com/about/ |archivedate=3 February 2010 }}
• The B Team, Vice-Chair{{Cite web|title=The B Team {{!}} Leaders|url=https://bteam.org/who-we-are/leaders|access-date=2021-11-25|website=The B Team|language=en|archive-date=4 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200404030606/https://bteam.org/who-we-are/leaders|url-status=live}}

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{{s-start}}

{{s-npo|union}}

{{s-bef | before=Jennie George }}

{{s-ttl | title=President of the Australian Council of Trade Unions | years=2000–2010}}

{{s-aft | after=Ged Kearney }}

{{succession box|title=President of the ICFTU Asia and Pacific Regional Organisation|years=2000–2005|before=Ken Douglas|after=Govindasamy Rajasekaran}}

{{succession box|title=President of the International Trade Union Confederation|years=2006–2010|before=New position|after=Michael Sommer}}

{{succession box|title=General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation|years=2010–2022|before=Guy Ryder|after=Luca Visentini}}

{{s-end}}

{{ICFTU}}

{{ACTU Presidents}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Burrow, Sharan}}

Category:1954 births

Category:Living people

Category:Australian Council of Trade Unions people

Category:Australian trade union leaders

Category:Australian women trade unionists

Category:University of New South Wales alumni

Category:Companions of the Order of Australia

Category:Leaders of the International Trade Union Confederation

Category:People from Warren, New South Wales