Guy Ryder

Who is Guy Ryder?

Guy Ryder CBE is the 10th Director General of the International Labour Organization and a former General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation 2006-2010. He is also a leading figure in the Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP), for which he spoke at the 2005 World Summit.

Ryder started his career at the International Department of the Trade Union Congress in London. In 1985, he moved to Geneva, to take up the position of Secretary of the Industry Trade Section of the International Federation of Commercial, Clerical, Professional and Technical Employees (FIET). In 1988, Ryder became Assistant Director and – from 1993 – Director of the Geneva Office of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions. He joined the International Labour Office (ILO) in 1998 as Director of the Bureau for Workers’ Activities, until 1999, when he became Director of the Office of the ILO Director-General. In September 2010, Mr Ryder returned to the ILO as Executive Director responsible for International Labour Standards and Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, overseeing key work in the supervision of the Application of ILO Conventions and Recommendations.