International Trade Union Confederation World Congress, Berlin 18 – 23 May 2014

Over 1500 trade unionists from 161 countries will gather at the Berlin City Cube in Berlin, Germany from May 18 to 23 for the 3rd International Trade Union Confederation World Congress which takes place every four years. The ITUC is the largest democratic organisation in the world representing 325 national trade unions and working people all over the world. The 2014 theme is "Building Workers’ Power".

Press Conference: ITUC General Secretary Sharan Burrow will hold a press conference at 12:45 – 1:15 pm on Sunday 18th May at the Berlin City Cube.

The opening ceremony takes place 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, 18 May and includes addresses from German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Helen Clark, UNDP Administrator, representing the United Nations, and ITUC President Michael Sommer.

The ITUC General Secretary’s address by Sharan Burrow outlining the state of the world for working people and the findings of the ITUC Global Poll 2014 will take place on Monday 19th May followed by an address by ILO Director-General Guy Ryder.

Delegates will debate organising campaigns in multi-national companies including T-Mobile USA and Deutsche Telekom, organising in the informal sector, government action plans to address inequality including a minimum living wage and social protection, climate action and trade agreements. The Congress will hold a public vote for the worst boss in the world.

There will be workers’ hearings on the informal sector and discrimination and panel debates on indigenous rights, domestic workers. A new global rights index will be released on the worst countries for workers based on violations recorded from 2013 – 2014. The Congress will adopt an action plan for the ITUC mandated by the 325 national trade union centres for a four-year programme of work.

Special guests include former professional footballers Abdeslam Ouaddou and Zahir Belounis who was trapped in Qatar for 17 months; Gordon Brown MP, UN Special Envoy for Global Education; Jay Naidoo, Chairman of the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition and a former Minister in the Mandela Cabinet; Professor Ozlem Onaran, Professor of Workforce and Economic Development Policy at University of Greenwich; Larry Elliott, Guardian Economics Editor; and Jayati Ghosh, Professor of Economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India.

For complete details of the ITUC World Congress agenda and arrangements please see: http://congress2014.ituc-csi.org/programme

The International Trade Union Confederation represents 176 million workers from 161 countries. The ITUC brings together the world’s independent and free national trade unions centres.

MEDIA ACCREDITATION

Journalists who wish to apply for media credentials should complete the online media accreditation form http://congress2014.ituc-csi.org/media-accreditation

For more information contact Gemma Swart +32 479 06 41 63 [email protected] (English)