New ITUC leader

A new general secretary will be elected to lead the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) after previous incumbent Luca Visentini was fired amid corruption allegations.

Visentini, only appointed to the position in December 2022, was suspended in January pending the findings of a special commission set up by the ITUC general council.

The commission was established after Visentini admitted taking money from the main suspect in the “Qatargate” scandal that rocked the European Parliament.

That suspect was Pier Antonio Panzeri, who is at the heart of allegations that Qatar and Morocco sought to influence EU lawmakers through bribes.

Visentini insists the money was to support his campaign for ITUC Congress and not to buy his influence in relation to Qatar.

Despite insinuations from some quarters, the commission found “no evidence of donations from either Qatar or Morocco influencing the ITUC’s policies or programmes”.

However, in March the ITUC general council decided that Luca Visentini no longer had its confidence as ITUC general secretary and sacked him. 

A further general council meeting will be held at the beginning of May to appoint an acting general secretary, who will organise an extraordinary Congress to elect a new general secretary.

In the interim, political leadership will be exercised by the ITUC president and deputy presidents, with deputy general secretary Owen Tudor carrying out daily management.