As outgoing European Trade Union Confederation general secretary John Monks joins John Prescott and Hilary Armstrong as one of Gordon Brown’s 29 Labour nominees for the House of Lords, the search for his successor here in Brussels is being stepped up.
Mr Monks – who is also a former general secretary of the TUC – finishes his eight-year stint at the ETUC’s congress in Athens next year.
Nominations for his successor are still open but, so far, the only formal candidate is a Frenchwoman: Bernadette Segol, regional secretary of UNI Europa, who has a reputation as a tough and energetic negotiator. She is in a strong position because the ETUC has never had a woman leader.
“The most crucial thing is to get a good general secretary for the European trade union organisation, at this time of crisis”, she told Tribune. “But it’s important also to show that trade unions are trying to improve the status of women. John Monks has done a very good job, and more than deserves the recognition he is getting in the UK.”
Mr Monks said he had accepted the outgoing Prime Minister’s invitation to go to the Lords with the proviso that his work in Europe will remain his priority until 2011. He has steered the ETUC through a difficult period of falling trade union membership, financial crisis, and attacks on working conditions and public services following turbulence in the eurozone.
Mr Monks has had little co-operation from a right-leaning European Commission, while the last European elections also weakened the unions’ support in the European Parliament. He has also found himself at odds with the Labour leadership in Britain over issues like European working time legislation.
