Hundreds of Delegates Assemble for ICTU Conference
Monday 4 July 2011Up to 800 trade union delegates (including Mandate Trade Union representatives), guests and observers from Ireland and abroad will gather today in Killarney for the 2011 Biennial Delegate Conference of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions.
Congress represents some 800,000 people working in both the private and public sectors, north and south of the border and is the largest civil society body on the island.
The 2011 conference will hear from a range of speakers, including Taoiseach Enda Kenny; Tanaiste Eamon Gilmore; Sr Stanislaus Kennedy of the Immigrant Council of Ireland and Sharan Burrow the head of the global International Trade Union Confederation (ITCU) which represesnts over 175 millions workers in 150 countries.
The Irish Congress of Trade Unions is affiliated to the ITUC.
Conference will debate over 40 motions dealing with the economic crisis, the bank bailout, job creation, improved rights in the workplace, the future of the European Union and the Middle East.
Delegates will also debate a new report on the structures of the Irish trade union movement with a view to ensuring it is best placed to meet the challenges of the future.
Congress General Secretary David Begg said the conference was taking place at a “unique juncture in the movement’s history and finds in robust good health, despite the very challenging conditions of the last two years.”
The conference will formally open at 4.30pm on Monday, July 4 and will conclude on Wednesday, July 6.
