Sharan Burrow

Recent Speaker

President ACTU

October 1, 2008

"Your rights at work: The next agenda"

In May 2000, Sharan Burrow became only the second woman ever to be elected President of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), representing nearly 2 million workers.


She has since played a pivotal role in many high profile union campaigns and negotiations, and has been a leading advocate for women’s equality in the workplace and society.

Most recently, Sharan led the union movement’s fight to overturn the WorkChoices laws in the lead up to the 2007 federal election through the “Your Rights at Work” campaign, credited since with influencing the election outcome.

The challenges for Australia are significant. High trust, high performance workplaces must underpin a growth in skills and productivity to enable us to manage an economic and social response to climate change, strong economic growth and workforce participation, without undermining the rights and security of working Australians.
 
The ACTU and unions are continuing to use the “Your Rights at Work” campaign to highlight and take action on these and other concerns of working people. A confident workforce needs to be underpinned  by a new industrial relations system and an economy that builds opportunity by enshrining a central role for collective bargaining rights along with the restoration of unfair dismissal laws, a national paid maternity leave scheme, work/care flexibility and other rights. These measures sit at the heart of a decent, modern society.