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Guy Rider sitting on the left side of Luc Cortebeeck during an ILO meeting. |
The election of the Director General of the
ILO is like in all other UN institutions a complex matter involving many
national and international interests. Because of its tripartite character, elections in the ILO are even more complex. Not only governments are
involved but also workers’ and employers’ groups. Therefore it is very
interesting to read some background information written by a high level
official from the workers’ group who was involved in the election of Guy Ryder as ILO
Director General on May 28.
I am referring to the blog of Luc
Cortebeeck ('How the impossible became possible'), former President of the Belgian Christian Trade Union Confederation
ACV/CSC and still President of the ILO Workers’ Group and Vice President
of the ILO. It is no secret that
the candidacy of Guy Ryder was launched from
within the ITUC, the international Trade Union Confederation founded by Guy
Ryder himself as ICFTU leader and Luc Cortebeeck as the president of the
Belgian ACV/CSC, the most powerful member organisation of the WCL (World Confederation of Labor), the former merger
partner of the ICFTU. Cortebeeck refers to this period of time when he writes that he “learned to know
him especially during the merger and the founding of the ITUC.”
Therefore it is no surprise that Luc
Cortebeeck himself together with President Michael Sommer of the powerful
German Trade Union Confederation DGB presented the candidacy of Ryder to the
ILO Governing Body. It is also not surprising that “his campaign, which consisted
of visits to voters all over the world, was supported financially by several
organizations, including ACV/CSC.”
The move to present Ryder as a strongly
identified candidate with the ITUC was not without risks. Never before an
International Trade Union had presented a candidate for the election of
Director General of the ILO. Candidates always had been presented by
Governments or were coming from inside the ILO. The latter is to a certain
extent also the case with Ryder. In 2010 he returned to the ILO as an executive
director, the second in command of the International Labour Organisation. Of
course his candidacy took this position in jeopardy, but surely the ITUC
leadership calculated this as a risk worth to be taken.
Cortebeeck refers to Ryder’s election as an
exiting knock-out race between nine candidates (see ‘9 candidates for the ILO post of Director General').
First the Africans voted for Africans but divided because there were 3 African
candidates. The same happened with Europe that was represented by 4
candidates, including the British Guy Ryder. The Latin Americans voted for the
Colombian Vice President Garzon. At the end it was a race between the French
employers’ candidate Gilles de Robain and Guy Rider. The latter won the
elections because he got more votes of governments.
Cortebeeck reports that “Garzon gave his
vote and support to Guy Ryder, as also did some Africans. Guy Ryder was elected
in the sixth round with 30 votes. He was supported by the USA, China, Japan and
probably Russia. In the final rounds developing countries and emerging
economies like Brazil played a strong role together with the Colombian
vice-president Garzon. Europe stayed behind, alone and divided ...
Although Guy Ryder has been nominated and
promoted by Europeans (Belgium, Germany and Great Britain) Cortebeeck
emphasizes that to become Director General of the ILO Guy Ryder has been
supported by what he calls the South (a political correct term for developing
countries) and that Ryder himself is ‘not typical British’ but a man who is
also interested in the people of the South. “I see that the people from the south feel
respected by him and they like to see him. That empathy is not only appreciated
by trade unionists, but also by many leaders from governments and employers,
you feel it also in the corridors of the ILO and the UN”, he writes in his
blog.
Cortebeeck concludes at the end of his blog
that “What was considered by many as too big a risk and as impossible, became
possible because the focus of the world moves to the South. Never before there
were so many candidates, never before a workers’ representative was elected. He
is a white man, but a man who more than others has proven to understand and to
feel the South. I have a very special feeling, I nominated him, he is a friend
and a companion on the road. I can work with him as President of the workers' group and Vice-President of the ILO. In these difficult times the mission is immense.
But only when we can coordinate governments, employers and workers we shall
succeed.”