General Federation of Trade Unions
News Xtra
Death of Neil Kearney
Posted on Friday, December 04, 2009
One of the world’s leading campaigners for workers rights in the textile industry died suddenly last month whilst on a working visit to Bangladesh.
Neil Kearney, 59, had been general secretary of the International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers Federation since 1988.
Born in Donegal, he moved to the UK at the age of 17 and, after working briefly in the banking sector, in 1972 became head of the information and research department of the National Union of Tailors and Garment Workers, which is now part of the GMB. Whilst at the NUTGW he worked closely with the GFTU Research department on a range of issues from pay to Government policy, wages boards to multinationals.
It was from the NUTGW after 16 years that he moved to the Brussels-based international federation and established a reputation as a tireless campaigner for textile workers rights, negotiating with multinational companies and seeking to raise international standards in an industry notorious for exploitation, low wages and poor safety standards.
He was in Bangladesh to negotiate an international framework agreement when he died of a heart attack on 20 November. Neil was also one of the founding board members of the Ethical Trading Initiative and Social Accountability International.
He is survived by his wife Jutta and 2 daughters Nicole and Caroline.
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